hc1@jaialai.cis.ufl.edu (Harry Campbell) (06/20/91)
From: hc1@jaialai.cis.ufl.edu (Harry Campbell) This is in response to a question about Anti-Tank-Guided Missile generations. 1st generation missiles are early wire guided missiles. After launch, which can be from a sight up to 100m (depending on the system) from the controller, the missile must be "gathered" by the operator. Gathering consists of stearing the missile onto the operator's line of sight. The operator uses a "joy-stick" controller to stear the missile, and he must guide it manually all the way to the target. These missiles were slow, and could often times be "juked" by the target moving out of the way at the last second. They also have been known to nose over, and dive into the ground (though this may be due to operator error). Any contact with the wire during flight may cause the missile to go off course, they have trouble shooting across artilery firing zones. Some examples are the Russian SAGGER-AT3-A, and the French/German SS-10. 1 1/2 generation are either early radio controlled, laser beam riders, or missiles with semi-automatic gathering, together with some first generation which have been modified to a semi-automatic mode. Some examples are the Russian Swatter-AT-2B, Sagger-AT-3C, the U. S. Shillelagh, and the Brittish Swingfire. 2nd generation missiles are optically guided, requiring the operator to keep his sight on the target. The missile "automatically" homes in on the operators point of aim. Many of these missiles rely on infra-red for guidance, so they are subject to counter-measures such as flares. Some examples are the Russian Spandrel-AT-5, Songster-AT-8, the French/German Milan, the EuroMissile HOT, the U. S. TOW, and Dragon. 3rd generation missiles rely on internal tracking, and have a very high engagement speed. They are usually designated for with a laser. The best countermeasure is atmospheric conditions that degrade the lasers functioning (thick smoke, fog, heavy rain, snow). Some examples are the U. S. Hellfire, and the Russian Spiral-AT-6. At present there are no 4th generation missiles, I would imagine they would be true Fire-And-Forget, able to track and home in on a pre-designated target. It may become necessary to use IFF on every vehicle to make it safe to use this type of weapon in close quarters. Harry Campbell. "Hold 'em by the nose, and kick 'em in the ass!"