BANTAM (rocket)

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BANTAM (rocket)

Bofors Robot 53 (Bantam) 001.jpg

General Information
Type Anti-tank guided missile
Local name RB 53, Robot 53
NATO designation BANTAM
Country of origin SwedenSweden Sweden
Manufacturer Bofors
development 1956
Commissioning 1963
Working time 1963–1990s
Technical specifications
length 0.848 m
diameter 110 mm
Combat weight Rocket 7.6 kg (rocket),
29 kg (complete with control and launch unit)
span 400 mm
drive Solid rocket engine
speed 85 m / s (306 km / h)
Range 250-2,000 m
Furnishing
steering gyroscope
Target location MCLOS via wire steering
Warhead 1.9 kg shaped charge
Detonator Impact fuse
Lists on the subject

The BANTAM was a 1st generation anti-tank guided weapon made in Sweden . BANTAM stands for B ofors AN ti- TA nk M issile.

development

BANTAM was developed by Bofors on its own initiative from 1956 . In the early 1960s, Sweden expressed an interest in the system. There, BANTAM was introduced to the Swedish armed forces from 1963 under the name Robot 53 (Rb 53) . In 1965, Switzerland was won as a further customer. There it was used in the Swiss Army from 1967 under the designation anti-tank guided missile system BANTAM Boden-Boden 65 (PAL BB65) . After the production of 33,000 guided missiles, the BANTAM production lines at Bofors were closed in 1978.

technology

BANTAM was developed to fight standing and moving battle tanks at a maximum distance of 2 km. The BANTAM system consisted of launch and transport containers with the guided weapons, an operating or control console and cable drums (reels) for the data lines .

The guided missiles were in launch and transport containers made of steel and plastic . A rocket container had a length of 0.97 m with a width of just 0.18 by 0.18 m. When loaded, it weighed 14 kg. The rocket container was provided with a shoulder strap, a bipod and a soil nail and was used as a launching carriage for the guided weapon. The BANTAM guided missile was divided into three sections. The piezoelectric percussion fuse and the 1.9 kg shaped charge warhead were housed behind the ogival guided missile tip. The batteries for the power supply and the actuators were placed behind the warhead . Behind it followed the solid rocket engine and the signal receivers. A commutator , the gyroscope and the launch rocket engine were housed in the rear area . Four flares were mounted in the rear of the rocket. Four trapezoidal stabilization surfaces were mounted on the rocket fuselage. Four small spoilers (vibration spoilers ) were attached to the stabilization surfaces . The stabilizing surfaces were folded up while the missile was in the missile case. They unfolded immediately after launch.

The control console consisted of monocular daylight aiming optics, a command transmitter and a joystick . The console weighed 5 kg. The data cables leading to the missile containers were connected to the console. This allowed the missile containers to be placed at a distance of up to 20 m from the control console. A maximum of four missile containers could be connected to the control console. Up to 18 rocket containers could then be connected via additional distribution boxes . Small and large cable drums were available for transporting the cables . The shooter could start and control a guided missile with the control console.

The missile was steered according to the principle of manual target coverage using the target optics and the control console. The shooter visually captured the target with the monocular target optics and tracked it. If the target was within firing range, the shooter launched the BANTAM guided weapon. This started with the help of the launch engine from the rocket container, which was inclined slightly towards the sky. After a flight time of around 3.3 seconds and a flight distance of 45 m, the launch engine was burned out and the marching rocket engine ignited. The launch engine accelerated the rocket to a speed of around 85 m / s. This speed was now kept constant by the cruise engine. The flares at the rear of the rocket were now ignited. These were used by the shooter to make the missile trajectory easier to see. In order to stabilize the flight, the missile was set in rotation by the stabilizing surfaces and the drive in the longitudinal axis . The gyroscope stabilized the flight path. Now the shooter captured the missile in the target optics. The shooter now had to bring the guided weapon into a target axis with the tank and brought the guided weapon towards the target with a small joystick. He had to pursue both the guided missile and the target with the target optics. All movements of the joystick were sent as control commands to the missile via two 0.16 mm thick cables. The guided missile flight time to the maximum operating distance of 2000 m was 24-25 seconds. The shaped charge warhead was detonated when it hit the target. This has a penetration capacity of 500 mm armor steel .

The control procedure called MCLOS (Manual Command to Line of Sight) required a high degree of skill and concentration from the shooter . According to the manufacturer, a hit expectation of around 85% should be achieved with the BANTAM. In practice, however, this was 25–30%.

Deployment platforms

The BANTAM could be carried and used by infantrymen . It could also be installed on vehicles, on helicopters and on light aircraft . The Swedish Armed Forces used the BANTAM on the Volvo C202 (Pansarvärnsrobotterrängbil 9032) . In the Swiss army, BANTAM was installed on the Steyr-Puch Haflinger . A rotating launcher for nine missile containers was mounted on the loading area of the vehicle. BANTAM could also be used with the Agusta-Bell 204 helicopter (4 guided missiles) as well as with the light aircraft SK 61 Bulldog (4 guided missiles) and Saab MFI-17 Supporter (6 guided missiles).

commitment

BANTAM was used by the armed forces of Argentina during the Falklands War .

distribution

  • ArgentinaArgentina Argentina - 200 control consoles and an unknown number of guided missiles.
  • SwedenSweden Sweden - number unknown.
  • SwitzerlandSwitzerland Switzerland - 800 control consoles and 8,000 guided missiles.

literature

  • Marshall Cavendish: The Directory of the World's Weapons. Aerospace Publishing, 1996, ISBN 1-85605-348-2 .
  • Christopher Chant: A Compendium of Armaments and Military Hardware. Routledge Revivals, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2014, ISBN 0-415-71072-3 .
  • Nicholas van der Bijl: Victory in the Falklands. Pen and Sword, United Kingdom, 2007, ISBN 1-84415-494-7 .

Web links

Commons : BANTAM  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c BANTAM. In: missile.index.ne.jp. Missile Index, accessed January 30, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Christopher Chant: A Compendium of Armaments and Military Hardware. 2014, p. 547.
  3. ^ Henri Habegger & Markus Hubacher: Anti-tank weapons in the collection of the HAM Foundation. (PDF) In: armeemuseum.ch. Association of Swiss Army Museum (VSAM), January 10, 2009, accessed on January 30, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g Fred & Dan: "Bantam" Robot 53. In: gammalstorp.se. Swedish veterans private website, accessed January 30, 2020 (se).
  5. ↑ a b Bantam: the Swiss Army's new anti-tank weapon? (PDF) In: e-periodica.ch. Swiss Journal of Civil Protection (Protnar), Volume 31, 1965, accessed on January 30, 2020 .
  6. ^ A b Marshall Cavendish: The Directory of the World's Weapons. 1996, p. 67.
  7. ^ "Bantam" Robot 53. In: tanks.mod16.org. Swedish Tank Archive, accessed January 30, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Urs Heller: Steyr Puch Type 700 AP Haflinger, Lwf Werferw BANATM L gl 4x4 2nd series, model 67. In: militaerfahrzeuge.ch. Military vehicles of the Swiss Army, accessed on January 30, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Véhicule lance-missile sol-sol d'engin guidé antichar BB 65 Bantam armée suisse. In: loutan.net. Le QG 1 / 72e de Twist Again, accessed January 30, 2020 (French).
  10. ^ Swedish Hocus Pocus. In: airplanesandrockets.com. Airplanes & Rockets, accessed January 30, 2020 .
  11. ↑ SAAB MFI-15 Safari / MFI-17 supporter. In: aviadejavu.ru. Avia Deja Vu, accessed January 30, 2020 (Russian).
  12. ^ Nicholas van der Bijl: Victory in the Falklands. 2007, p. 53.
  13. ↑ a b SIPRI Arms Transfers Database. In: sipri.org. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, accessed January 30, 2020 .
  14. ↑ The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS): The Military Balance 1991–1992 . United Kingdom, 2019, ISBN 978-0-08-041325-9 .