M47 Dragon

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M47 Dragon

Parts of M47 Dragon kit (shown with daytime tracker attached).
Type SACLOS wire-guided Anti-tank missile
Place of origin United States
Service history
In service 1975 - 1990
Used by Iran, Iraq (Acquired M47 Dragons taken from captured Iranian soldiers), Switzerland, United States, The Netherlands
Wars Iran-Iraq war,Gulf War
Production history
Designer Raytheon
Designed March 3, 1966
Manufacturer McDonnell Douglas, Raytheon
Produced 1975
Number built 7,000 Launchers, 33,000 Missiles (US Army)
17,000 Missiles (US Marines)
Variants Dragon II, Super Dragon, Saeghe 1 and 2 [1]
Specifications (FGM-77)
Length 1,154 mm (45.4 in)
Diameter 140 mm
Crew 1
Effective range 75 meters
Maximum range 1000-1500 meters
Warhead Hollow charge
Speed 200 m/s (660 ft/s)
Guidance
system		 SACLOS system sights
US soldier firing M47 Dragon.
US soldier firing M47 Dragon.

The M47 Dragon (developmental designation FGM-77) is an American shoulder-fired man-portable anti-tank missile system.

The M47 Dragon has since been phased out, in favour of the newer FGM-148 Javelin system.

Contents

[edit] Description

It used a wire-guidance system in concert with a high explosive anti-tank warhead and was capable of defeating armored vehicles, fortified bunkers, main battle tanks and other hard targets. While it was primarily created to defeat the Soviet Union's T-55, T-62, and T-72 tanks, it has since seen action up into the current era including the Gulf War. The U.S. Armed Forces officially retired the weapon in the late 1990s; however stocks of the weapon remain in arsenals.

In use by the U. S. Army, the U. S. Marine Corps, as well as many foreign militaries the design was first fielded in 1975. The effective range of the Dragon was 1000 meters, with the rocket traveling 100 meters per second, guided by an infrared sight. The operator had to remain kneeling and had to guide the missile into its target, which exposed him to enemy fire.

[edit] Variants

The Dragon was upgraded to the designation Dragon II in 1985 when its penetration effectiveness was increased. Reaching its current designation of Super-Dragon in 1990, it was capable of penetrating 18 inches (450 mm) of armor at a maximum effective range of 1,500 meters.

A reverse-engineered version made by Iran, known as the Saeghe, is known to be manufactured. Displayed in 2002 at the Defendory exhibition in Athens, it is currently being mass-produced [1]. It has been said that Hezbollah was able to acquire some Saeghes for anti-tank/armor uses. [2]

[edit] Components

The launcher system of the Dragon consists of a smoothbore fiberglass tube, breech/gas generator, tracker, bipod, battery, sling, and forward and aft shock absorbers. In order to fire the weapon non-integrated day or night sights must be attached. While the launcher itself was expendable, the sights can be removed and reused.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b IRAN PRESENTS VERSION OF U.S. ANTI-TANK MISSILE. Retrieved on December 10, 2007
  2. ^ Arab States Eye Better Spec Ops, Missiles. Retrieved on December 10, 2007

[edit] Sources and external links

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Types of missile