AT4 CS
| AT4 AT4 CS, AT4-CS, AT-4CS |
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U.S.-spec AT-4
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| Type | Anti-tank weapon |
| Place of origin | Sweden |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1987–present |
| Used by | See Operators below |
| Wars | |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | Saab Bofors Dynamics |
| Unit cost | US$1,480.64 |
| No. built | 600,000+ |
| Variants | AT-4 CS |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 6.7 kg (14.8 lb) (AT4) 8 kg (18 lb) (AT4-CS) |
| Length | 102 cm (40 in) |
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| Muzzle velocity | 290 m/s (950 ft/s) |
| Effective firing range | 300 m (point target) |
| Maximum firing range | 500 m (area target) 2,100 m (maximum) |
| Sights | Iron sights, optional night vision unit |
| Filling | Octol |
| Filling weight | 440 g HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank round) |
| Prototype AT4 Sweden tested 1981/82 | |
 Early AT4 with Swedish Soldier
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Early AT4 launcher and projectile
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The AT4 (also AT-4) is an 84-mm unguided, portable, single-shot recoilless smoothbore weapon built in Sweden by Saab Bofors Dynamics (previously Bofors Anti-Armour Systems).Saab has had considerable sales success with the AT4, making it one of the most common light anti-tank weapons in the world.
The AT4 is intended to give infantry units a means to destroy or disable armoured vehicles and fortifications, although it is generally ineffective against modern days' main battle tanks (MBT). The launcher and projectile are manufactured prepacked and issued as a single unit of ammunition, with the launcher discarded after a single use.
The AT4 is a development of the 74-mm Pansarskott m/68 (Miniman), adopted by the Swedish Army in the late 1960s. Like the m/68, the AT4 was designed by Försvarets Fabriksverk (FFV) and manufactured at their facility at Zakrisdal, Karlstad, Sweden. FFV began research in a replacement for the m/68 in 1976, deliberately designing an individual anti-armor weapon that would not be able to defeat the heavy armour protection of MBTs (main battle tanks) in frontal engagements, believing that to be counterproductive. The AT4 was designed as a weapon to engage medium to light armoured vehicles from any direction, MBTs from the sides or rear, and as an assault weapon against buildings and fortifications. FFV also had the design goal of a weapon that was simple to use, rugged, and far more accurate than previous individual antiarmor weapons against moving targets. Another key requirement was that the AT4 not only be able to penetrate armour, but also have a devastating beyond-armour effect after penetration. FFV and the Swedish Army began the first evaluation firings of the prototype AT4s in the spring of 1981 with 100 tested by early 1982.
Even before the AT4 had been adopted by Sweden, it was entered into a US Army competition for a new anti-tank weapon mandated by Congress in 1982 when the FGR-17 Viper failed as a replacement for the M72 LAW. Six weapons were tested in 1983 by the US Army: the British LAW 80, the German Armbrust, the French APILAS, the Norwegian M72E4 (an upgraded M72 LAW), the US Viper (for baseline comparison purposes) and the Swedish AT4. The US Army reported to Congress in November 1983 that the FFV AT4 came the closest to meeting all the major requirements established to replace the M72 LAW, with the Armbrust coming in second.
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Wikipedia