The Bantam (Bofors ANti-TAnk Missile) or Robot 53 (Rb 53) was a Swedish wire-guided, manual command to line of sight, anti-tank missile developed in the late 1950s by Bofors. It served with the Swedish and Swiss armies from 1963 and 1967 respectively. It can either be deployed by a single man carrying a missile and control equipment or from a vehicle. It has been fitted to the Volvo L3314 and the Scottish Aviation Bulldog. In the Swiss Army, it was mounted on Steyr-Daimler-Puch Haflinger light wheeled vehicles.
Robot 53 Bantam
Bantam was fired in anger by Argentinian Marines and the crew of ARA Santa Fe (S-21) during the Falklands War, 1982. While under fierce attack and sustaining severe damage by British Royal Navy anti-ship helicopters, the submarine crew returned fire with rifles, light machine guns, and a Bantam.
The missile is carried in a rectangular launcher box, which is connected to a control box by a 20-meter cable, allowing for a degree of separation from the operator. The missile can be set up in around 30 seconds by a single man. The transporter/launcher box is pointed toward the expected direction of the enemy and the control box is attached to it using the cable. The manual command to line of sight (MCLOS) control box consists of an optical sighting device and a joystick, which transmits commands to the missile via two thin cables that are trailed behind the missile.
On launch, a small gyroscope is spun up by the firing of a powder pellet. The missile is propelled into the air by a booster motor, which takes the missile to its flight speed of approximately 85 meters per second. As it leaves the launcher box, four wings unfold, which begin to spin the missile in flight, which provides a degree of stability. Once the missile has travelled about 30 meters the gyro is unlocked and operator-controlled flight begins. Once 40 meters of wire has deployed from one of the missile's two spools, the sustainer motor is ignited along with up to four tracer flares in the back of the missile. At 45 meters range, the booster motor runs out. Once 230 meters of wire have deployed from the second spool of wire, the missile's shaped charge warhead is armed.
Commands from the joystick are relayed to the missile along the trailing wires, these commands are amplified by a small transistor circuit in the missile and are routed to vibrating spoilers on the trailing edge of the missile's four wings based on the direction of the command and the gyro-sensed orientation of the missile.
On impact with a target, a piezo-electric fuze triggers the shaped-charge warhead, which can penetrate up to 500 millimeters of armour. It has a claimed hit probability of 95 to 98% between the ranges of 800 and 2,000 meters.[1]
bantam, missile, bantam, bofors, anti, tank, missile, robot, swedish, wire, guided, manual, command, line, sight, anti, tank, missile, developed, late, 1950s, bofors, served, with, swedish, swiss, armies, from, 1963, 1967, respectively, either, deployed, singl. The Bantam Bofors ANti TAnk Missile or Robot 53 Rb 53 was a Swedish wire guided manual command to line of sight anti tank missile developed in the late 1950s by Bofors It served with the Swedish and Swiss armies from 1963 and 1967 respectively It can either be deployed by a single man carrying a missile and control equipment or from a vehicle It has been fitted to the Volvo L3314 and the Scottish Aviation Bulldog In the Swiss Army it was mounted on Steyr Daimler Puch Haflinger light wheeled vehicles Robot 53 Bantam Bantam was fired in anger by Argentinian Marines and the crew of ARA Santa Fe S 21 during the Falklands War 1982 While under fierce attack and sustaining severe damage by British Royal Navy anti ship helicopters the submarine crew returned fire with rifles light machine guns and a Bantam Contents 1 Description 2 Operators 2 1 Former operators 3 Specifications 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksDescription EditThe missile is carried in a rectangular launcher box which is connected to a control box by a 20 meter cable allowing for a degree of separation from the operator The missile can be set up in around 30 seconds by a single man The transporter launcher box is pointed toward the expected direction of the enemy and the control box is attached to it using the cable The manual command to line of sight MCLOS control box consists of an optical sighting device and a joystick which transmits commands to the missile via two thin cables that are trailed behind the missile On launch a small gyroscope is spun up by the firing of a powder pellet The missile is propelled into the air by a booster motor which takes the missile to its flight speed of approximately 85 meters per second As it leaves the launcher box four wings unfold which begin to spin the missile in flight which provides a degree of stability Once the missile has travelled about 30 meters the gyro is unlocked and operator controlled flight begins Once 40 meters of wire has deployed from one of the missile s two spools the sustainer motor is ignited along with up to four tracer flares in the back of the missile At 45 meters range the booster motor runs out Once 230 meters of wire have deployed from the second spool of wire the missile s shaped charge warhead is armed Commands from the joystick are relayed to the missile along the trailing wires these commands are amplified by a small transistor circuit in the missile and are routed to vibrating spoilers on the trailing edge of the missile s four wings based on the direction of the command and the gyro sensed orientation of the missile On impact with a target a piezo electric fuze triggers the shaped charge warhead which can penetrate up to 500 millimeters of armour It has a claimed hit probability of 95 to 98 between the ranges of 800 and 2 000 meters 1 The Bantam is broadly similar to the Cobra anti tank missile and Russian AT 1 Snapper first generation anti tank missiles Operators Edit Map with former Bantam operators in red Former operators Edit Argentina Argentine Marine Corps Sweden Swedish Army Switzerland Swiss Army systems Bantam BB65 10 missiles mounted on 200 Steyr Puch 700 AP Haflinger used by infantry troops from 1969 to 1994 2 Specifications EditLength 0 85 m Diameter 0 11 m Wingspan 0 40 m Weight of missile 7 6 kg Weight of missile and launcher box 13 kg Range 300 to 2 000 m Speed 85 m s Warhead 1 14 kg shaped charge 3 See also EditVickers VigilantReferences EditBrassey s Infantry Weapons of the World J I H Owen Michael J H Taylor 1980 Missile s of the World Charles Scribner s Sons ISBN 0 684 16593 7 Steyr Puch Typ 700 AP Haflinger Lwf Werferw BANTAM militaerfahrzeuge ch Ammunitionskatalog Data och bilder FMV 1994External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robot 53 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bantam missile amp oldid 1072159824, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
