9M119

The 9M119 Svir and 9M119M Refleks are laser beam riding, guided anti-tank missiles developed in the former Soviet Union. The two missiles are similar, but vary in range and launch platform. Both are designed to be fired from smooth bore 125 mm tank and anti-tank guns (2A45, 2A46 and 2A46M). Their NATO reporting name is AT-11 Sniper. The name Svir comes from the River Svir, while Refleks means reflex. The 9M119 replaces, or supplants, the 9K112 Kobra.

Refleks

The Refleks is used in the T-90 and Serbian M-84AS and some versions of the T-80 and T-84 tanks. It has also been produced by the People's Republic of China for use with its Type 98 tank.^[4] The Indian defence ministry has signed a contract with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), a public sector company under Department of Defence Production, for supplying Invar Anti Tank Guided Missiles to the Indian Army. BDL has been manufacturing these missiles under technical collaboration with Rosoboronexport.^[5] It can also be fired from the 2A45 Sprut-B anti-tank gun.^[6]

The Invar 9M119M and Invar 9M119M1 (Invar-M) are fired from a 125mm gun, like a shell, but operate like a guided missile. The 17.2 kg (37.8 pound) missile is 690mm (27.1 inches) long and has pop-out fins (with a 250mm/69 girth span) that aid in guidance (laser beam riding, controlled by the tank gunner). The missile has a max range of 5,000 meters at a speed of 350 meters per second (17.69 seconds max flight time). The Invar enables the tank to hit targets at twice the range of the 125mm shells. The tandem warhead can penetrate up to 900mm of armor (35.4 inches). Missile 9M119M "Invar" put into service in 1992, and the missile 9M119M1 "Invar-M" in the second half of the 1990s.^[7][8] 9M119F and 9M119F1 guided missiles of high explosive action intended for defeat of enemy personnel.^[9]

Svir

The Svir is used with the T-72 series of tanks.

Similar weapons

• United States: MGM-51 Shillelagh used with the M551 Sheridan light tank, and the short lived M60A2 MBT.
• United States: XM1111 Mid-Range Munition which was attempted to be developed for the M1A2 SEP Abrams MBT.
• Russia: 9K112 Kobra (AT-8 Songster) is also fired through 125-mm smoothbore gun tubes.
• Israel: LAHAT, used with their 105 and 120-mm gun tubes.
• France: ACRA 142mm anti-tank missile, tested on a version of the AMX-30 MBT.
• Ukraine: Kombat tandem-warhead ATGM with a 5,000-m effective range, fired from 125-mm smoothbore guns. 950mm penetration.^[10]
• Iran: Reversed engineered version of the Svir with max range of 4,000 meters named Tondar.^[11]

Specifications

^[3]

• Range:
  • Svir: 75 to 4,000 m
  • Refleks: 75 to 5,000 m
• Weight (complete round):
  • Svir: 28 kg
  • Refleks: 24.3 kg
• Missile Weight:
  • Svir: 16.5 kg
  • Refleks: 17.2 kg
• Warhead: Tandem HEAT
• Penetration: 700–900 mm of RHA
• Time of flight to 4,000 m: 11.7 s
• Time of flight to 5,000 m: 17.6 s

Operators

Map with 9M119 operators in blue and former operators in red

Current operators

•  China
•  Cyprus
•  India
•  Russia
•  Morocco

Former operators

•  Soviet Union - Passed on to Russia.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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