Swingfire
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| Swingfire | |
|---|---|
| Type | Anti-tank missile |
| Place of origin | UK |
| Service history | |
| Used by | See text |
| Production history | |
| Number built | 46,650 [1] |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 27 kg |
| Length | 1.07 m |
| Diameter | 0.17 m |
|
|
|
| Warhead | 7 kg HEAT |
| Detonation mechanism |
Impact |
|
|
|
| Engine | Solid rocket motor |
| Wingspan | 0.39 m |
| Operational range |
150 - 4,000 m |
| Flight ceiling | n/a |
| Speed | 185 m/s |
| Guidance system |
Wire, MCLOS/SACLOS |
| Steering system |
Thrust Vector Control |
| Launch platform |
Vehicle |
Swingfire is a British wire-guided anti-tank missile.
Contents |
[edit] Development
Swingfire was developed by Fairey Engineering Ltd and the British Aircraft Corporation. It replaced the Vickers Vigilant missile in British service. It was a product of both its predecessor the Vigilant and the experimental Orange William missile.
The name comes from the ability of the missile to make a rapid turn of up to ninety degrees after firing to bring it onto the line of the sighting mechanism. This means that the launcher vehicle can be concealed and the operator, using a portable sight, placed at a distance in a more advantageous firing position.
Besides its use on the FV438 Swingfire and the Striker armoured vehicles, Swingfire was developed to be launched from other platforms:
- Beeswing - on a Land Rover
- Hawkswing - on a Lynx helicopter [1]
- Golfswing - on a small trolley or Argocat vehicle.
[edit] Combat history
Swingfire has seen combat use in the Gulf War [2] and the Iraq War.
[edit] Replacement in British Army
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A major review and procurement process was instituted in the late 1990s to update the British Army's entire anti-armour weapon systems; the candidates as the replacement for Swingfire included Hellfire, Starstreak and LOSAT. As of July 2005 it seems that no new long range anti-armour missile will be procured and the Swingfire role will be covered by further purchases of the much more advanced but shorter ranged US Javelin.[3][4]
[edit] Specification
- Diameter: 0.17 m
- Wingspan: 0.39 m
- Length: 1.07 m
- Weight: 27 kg
- Warhead: 7 kg HEAT
- Range: 150 m to 4000 m
- Velocity: 185 m/s [1]
- Guidance: Wire-guided, originally MCLOS, later upgraded to SACLOS, in which form the system is known as SWIG (Swingfire With Improved Guidance).[1]
- Steering: Thrust Vectored Control (TVC)
- Penetration: 800 mm RHA
- Unit cost: £7,500 [5]
[edit] Operators
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Egypt - Egyptian Army [6]
- Swingfire missiles were also produced in Egypt under license by Arab-British Dynamics.[7]
Portugal - Portuguese Army
- Used on the Chaimite armoured fighting vehicle, now retired.
United Kingdom - British Army
- FV102 Striker - 5 in ready-to-fire bins.
- FV438 Swingfire - Two firing bins
- Ferret Mk 5 - Four firing bins.
[edit] Decommissioning problems
Swingfire inadvertently became the subject of questions in the Houses of Parliament in March 2002 when 20 warheads, removed for decommissioning, were washed into the Bristol Channel along with 8 anti-tank mines.[10] The warheads, with a total explosive weight equivalent to 64.2 kg of TNT,[11] were never located.[12]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ a b c d e f g h Swingfire - Forecast International
- ^ Britain's Small Wars - Gulf Units
- ^ MOD press release
- ^ Javelin - Army Technology
- ^ everything2.com
- ^ Global Security
- ^ ABD - Global Security
- ^ a b NTI: Country Overviews: Egypt
- ^ Sudan, Civil War since 1955
- ^ Hansard
- ^ Hansard
- ^ MoD gives up on lost warheads
[edit] External links
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