MILAN ER French Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM)

The Milan ER is the latest development of the combat-proven Milan weapon system that has already been selected by over 40 customers around the world. This latest generation high firepower weapon system has been specifically designed for land combat forces involved in sustained and demanding close combat operations. It combines precision and the versatility to address all the threats of the modern battlefield, static or moving, comprising the most heavily armed tanks as well as targets such as fortifications and infrastructures. It is suitable for both urban and open terrain thanks to Man In The Loop (MITL) operation for the avoidance of collateral damage, friendly fire and to comply with increasingly complex rules of engagement. The MILAN ER missile has a range extended to 3,000m and a new, multi-effect warhead that can penetrate 1,000mm explosive reactive armor (ERA) or rolled homogeneous armor (RHA), or more than 3m of reinforced concrete. A direct attack mode has been added as well as improved anti-jamming capability. MILAN (French: Missile d'infanterie léger antichar; English: Light anti-tank infantry missile, Milan is French for kite) is a Western European anti-tank guided missile. The design of the MILAN started in 1962, it was ready for trials in 1971, and was accepted for service in 1972. It is a wire-guided SACLOS (semi-automatic command to line-of-sight) missile, which means the sight of the launch unit has to be aimed at the target to guide the missile. The MILAN can be equipped with a MIRA or MILIS thermal sight to give it night-firing ability. MILAN is a product of Euromissile, a Franco-West German missile development program dating back to the 1960s. The system entered service in 1972 as a second-generation anti-tank weapon and soon became a standard anti-tank weapon throughout NATO, in use by most of the alliance's individual armies. Consisting of two main components, the launcher, and the missile, the MILAN system utilizes a semi-automatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) command guidance system. It tracks the missile either by a tail-mounted infrared lamp or an electronic-flash lamp, depending on the model. Because it is guided by wire by an operator, the missile cannot be affected by radio jamming or flares. However, drawbacks include its short range, the exposure of the operator, problems with overland powerlines, and a vulnerability to infrared jammers such as Shtora that can prevent the automatic tracking of the missile's IR tail light.