Unguided Weapons.

Aside from the traditional Molotov Cocktail, the simplest anti-armour weapon is the unguided discharge-and-discard Law (lightweight anti-armour weapon), characterised by Russia's RPG-22.

This category is likewise exemplified by America's 66 mm M72 series, produced by a team combining Talley Defense Systems, Norris Industries, Raufoss and Tracor. More than 1.5 million M72s have been produced in a variety of models, including the M72A4, which can penetrate 350 mm of armour. The latest M72A6 uses an explosively-formed penetrator warhead to defeated single-, double-, or triple-spaced armour with significant behind-armour effects.

Sweden's 84 mm Bofors AT4 is another one-shot weapon in the 300-metre class. The US Army has acquired at least 600 000 of these weapons (half produced by Alliant Techsystems under licence). Around 10 000 were fired in Desert Storm, but this total included those used to destroy captured vehicles. Recent models include the AT4 CS for use in confined spaces, and the AT4 CST with a tandem-charge warhead.

In France, Giat Industries produces both the lightweight Wasp and the heavier Apilas. Both are shoulder-fired however. The Wasp weighs only three kilos and has one 58 mm diameter hollow charge warhead able to defeat 300 mm of ERA-protected armour and is suitable against moving targets at a maximum range of 300 metres. The heavier, 9.5-kilogram Apilas, on the other hand, will sort out over 700 mm of protected armour at the same range, having a much larger warhead (112 mm). It can be fitted with an image intensification sight. The left-handed will be happy to learn that this weapon was designed for ambidextrous operation.

Turning to reusable one-man systems, the Dynamit Nobel Panzerfaust 3 is designed on the recoilless Davis Gun principle and has its warhead positioned outside the launch tube to allow changes in its length and diameter. The normal warhead diameter is 110 mm, but the lightweight Panzerfaust 3 LW has a 90 mm warhead, reducing the missile weight from 4.3 to 2.6 kilograms. The system is also available with tandem shaped-charge warheads (Panzerfaust 3-T). The 3-T 600 version has an integral laser range-finder and a computerised sight that allows the operator to input wind data, thus doubling the effective range against moving targets from 300 to 600 metres.

Although limited to a range of 200 metres and an armour penetration of 350 mm, the Dynamit Nobel RGW 60 is noteworthy for its light weight: only 5.3 kilograms in ready-to-fire state.

Bofors continues to produce the 84 mm Carl-Gustaf M3, with a range of ammunition that includes the tandem-warhead Heat 751. The Carl-Gustaf series has been sold to 40 nations. An interesting development in this context is the laser day/night sighting system developed by Photonic for the Carl Gustaf. While the laser rangefinder is said to considerably diminish stress on the gunner, the image intensifier module (which can be rapidly swapped for the day sight) has an illuminated reticle with adjustable brightness.

The Israel Military Industries (IMI) Shipon is like the Panzerfaust 3-T 600 in relying on a sophisticated fire control system (FCS) for engagements up to 600 metres, but in this case the canister is disposable. The FCS incorporates a range-finder, a thermometer and an inclinometer, and cross-wind compensation is optional. The 100 mm tandem-charge warhead is capable of penetrating 800 mm of armour. The Shipon system weighs nine kilograms, but the reusable subsystem weighs only 2.5 kilograms. The Shipon is now completing development and, according to IMI, will be operational in the near future.

Mines

Several types of shoulder-launched anti-armour weapons have been used as a basis for off-route mines. For example, the Hunting LAW 80 can be tripod-mounted and remotely fired at armour up to 200 metres distant. Linked to a trip-wire, it is known as the Addermine. With a programmable sensor package it becomes the fully autonomous Addermine-Ajax.

The Arges is a joint effort by Giat Industries, Dynamit Nobel, Honeywell Sondertechnik and Hunting Engineering. It combines acoustic, infrared and laser sensor, and is claimed to have a 97 per cent hit probability at a range of 90 metres.

Russia's FKP GkNIPAS produces the Temp-30 overfly top-attack mine, with a maximum range of 110 metres. The mine is transported in a box which may be buried with its lid flush with the surface of the ground or simply laid on top. Seismic and acoustic sensors attached to the lid detect the tank and eject the mine vertically. A rocket motor (as used in the 57 mm rocket) then ignites, propelling the Temp-30 over the tank, and an explosively-formed penetrator from its 240 mm warhead is fired downwards into the top armour of the target.