Man-portable anti-tank systems

Man-portable anti-tank systems (MANPATS or MPATS) are shoulder-launched anti-tank rockets. They are typically unguided weapons and are a threat to armored vehicles, low-flying aircraft (especially helicopters), and field fortifications. Generally MANPATS fall into three distinct categories. The first consist of a small, disposable preloaded launch tube firing a high explosive anti-tank warhead operated by a single soldier. The second is a firing system onto /into which a rocket is loaded, operated by a single soldier. The third are manufactured prepacked and issued as a single unit of ammunition with the launcher discarded after a single use.

Modern MANPATS have their roots in the 20th century with the early development of the explosive shaped charge. The development of practical rocketry provided a means of delivering such an explosive. Research occasioned by World War II produced such weapons as the German Panzerfaust followed by the American bazooka which combined portability with effectiveness against armored vehicles, fortifications and buildings.

Arguably, the first MANPATS could be Anti-tank rifles developed during World War I. An anti-tank rifle is a rifle designed to penetrate the armour of vehicles, particularly tanks. The usefulness of rifles for this purpose ran from the introduction of tanks in World War I and until the Korean War. While medium and heavy tank armour became too thick to be penetrated by rigid projectiles from rifles that could be carried by a single soldier, anti-tank rifles continued to be used against other targets. Anti-materiel rifles of today, such as the Barrett M82, are a development of the Second World War technology. Although no longer capable of penetrating even the side armour of the main battle tanks, they are capable of causing serious damage to their external fittings such as periscopes and machine guns, and in disabling or even destroying less well armoured and support vehicles, helicopters, low-flying UAVs and personnel.

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