Anti-tank missiles

An anti-tank missile (ATM), anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon, is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles.

ATGMs range in size from shoulder-launched weapons, which can be transported by a single soldier, to larger tripod-mounted weapons, which require a squad or team to transport and fire, to vehicle and aircraft mounted missile systems.

The introduction to the modern battlefield of smaller, man-portable ATGMs with larger warheads has given infantry the ability to defeat light and medium tanks at great ranges, though main battle tanks (MBTs) using composite and reactive armors have proven to be resistant to smaller ATGMs. Earlier infantry anti-tank weapons, such as anti-tank rifles, anti-tank rockets and magnetic anti-tank mines, had limited armor-penetration abilities and/or required a soldier to approach the target closely.

Germany developed a design for a wire-guided anti tank missile derived from the Ruhrstahl X-4 air to air missile concept in the closing months of World War II. Reliable information for this weapon is elusive. It was never used in combat and allegedly had serious guidance to target issues.

The SS.10 is the first anti-tank missile widely used. It entered service in the French Army in 1955. It was also the first anti-tank missile used by the US Army and Israeli Defense Forces.

The Malkara missile (from an Aboriginal word for "shield") was one of the earliest anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs). It was jointly developed by Australia and the United Kingdom between 1951 and 1954, and was in service from 1958 until gradually replaced by the Vickers Vigilant missile in the late 1960s. It was intended to be light enough to deploy with airborne forces, yet powerful enough to knock out any tank then in service (it used a 26 kg HESH warhead).

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