The European continent in particular, and the world in general, is experiencing an unprecedented situation since World War II. For the first time in 77 years, a country has launched an attack on another country in the old continent, which I thought had bid farewell to the era of bloody fierce battles between countries forever.
Russia is entering Ukraine, and Europe is trembling at the danger coming from the east, and is looking to significantly increase its defenses to confront the Russian threat;
Perhaps this was the main title of the entire stage.
In this war, the tank weapon was one of the main weapons used by the Russian army in its war on Ukraine, and it is no wonder, Russia has more than 13 thousand and 300 tanks, about 20 thousand armored fighting vehicles, and nearly 6 thousand artillery pieces as I mentioned The "I News" platform in a recent report.
To confront this danger, you need a qualitative weapon in order to be able to stop it and reduce this tactical advantage possessed by the invading army, and to restore the balance of power;
Here emerges to the surface a weapon specifically designed to snipe and destroy tanks. This weapon is a new generation of light anti-tank weapons manufactured by the Swedish company SAAB, which called it "New generation Light Anti-tank Weapon [NLAW]). .
The manufacture of this weapon began in the United Kingdom in 2002, in cooperation between the Swedish company and the British Army, which chose the Saab company to manufacture it, given its previous experience in the field of manufacturing portable anti-tank weapons.
In 1999, Bofors, a company acquired by Saab, developed a new portable anti-tank weapon for the Swedish mechanized infantry, which at the time lacked both tanks and anti-tank weapons.
The system referred to as "MBT LAW" quickly gained the attention of the British Ministry of Defense, which signed a contract with the Swedish company to manufacture the new weapon more advanced than the previous system, which came under the name "Anlo" (NLAW) in 2002, According to what the "military-today" platform recently reported.
Since that time, this new system has purchased many countries in the world and introduced it to their defense system, including - in addition to Sweden and the United Kingdom - Finland, Indonesia, Malaysia, Switzerland and Luxembourg, and the Ukrainian army was recently supplied with it following the large-scale military support campaign it receives from Western countries to confront the Russian army.
Here we present to you 5 facts that you may not know about this deadly weapon, as mentioned on the website of the Saab company that manufactures the weapon.
One soldier is enough
A very light weapon, it weighs only 12.5 kg, is carried on the shoulder and can be used by a single operator, and its armor-piercing warhead is capable of destroying a modern, heavily armored battle tank with just one shot, and the system is effective at a range of 20 to 800 meters.
“This combination of flexibility, ease of movement and high destructiveness has changed the rules of the game forever,” says Lars Organ Hofbrandt, sales manager at Swedish arms manufacturer Saab. Previously, "You can train only one soldier to use the system in an hour, and then that soldier just has to lie behind any rock, tree or house waiting for the tank to arrive, destroy it at once and then move to hunt the next tank."
And Hofbrandt explains: "In the past it was possible to track and destroy the tank destroying factions, but now with this new weapon it is very difficult - if not impossible - to track the soldier who carries the weapon on his shoulder and moves easily and quickly from one place to another, this is a very difficult threat. locating, more lethal, and able to stop enemy tanks easily."
The new weapon is not based on a target search system, but instead relies on "predictive line-of-sight technology" (Getty Images)
Advanced technology that hits the target precisely
One of the main challenges anti-tank weapons faced in difficult and complex environments and terrains was the ability to accurately hit the target in the presence of natural obstacles, heat sources, power lines, and other vehicle movement on the battlefield.
But with "Anlo" there is no need for all of that, as this new weapon does not rely on the target search system, but rather it is the only one that relies on "predictive line of sight technology" that includes magnetic and optical sensors capable of determining the target accurately. , where the system calculates the distance to the target and the speed of its movement, and the soldier only has to follow this tank for a few seconds before firing, so that the system does the rest and chases the tank until it is completely destroyed.
Predictive Line of Sight (PLOS) technology is a method of hitting moving targets, by tracking the target for a short period of time (3-5 seconds), during which time data is collected in the launcher's program, which results in a prediction of the path required to intercept the moving target.
The missile's trajectory is drawn taking into account all terrain when it is launched, and it uses an autonomous flight navigation system, in which the target is hit either by direct targeting or by activating the detonation of the warhead.
For example, in the case of a tank hiding behind a wall, the missile could fly and explode itself directly above it, since the top armor of the tank is very thin, so the possibility of disabling or injuring the personnel of the hiding tank is very high.
Huffbrandt explains: “Suppose you are in a complex area where a number of vehicles have been hit and you have a burning vehicle in front of you 50 meters away, and the real target is 150 meters away. Then he starts looking for the target until he finds it and destroys it."
This technology is used in particular in military operations, but it has recently begun to be used in self-driving car systems, where this algorithm plots the trajectory of the car, with some modifications to the criteria and objectives.
no place to hide
While many other anti-tank missiles need adequate space to rise first before launching an overhead attack on the enemy tank, the ability to soar at the "Anlo" is effective at a range of 20 meters which makes it lethal in the short term, even if the enemy tank is hiding under Cover, the missile flies about a meter above the tank before launching its devastating attack on it, and the system is very effective in situations where the operator can only see a small part of the tank's surface.
“If the tank is almost completely hidden with only an antenna visible to it, the operating soldier has to target this very small visible part of the hiding tank to fire, and the missile will do the rest, flying about one meter from the line of sight before taking out The tank from the battlefield.
The Ukrainian army was provided with "Anlo" after the extensive military support it received from Western countries to confront the Russian army (Reuters)
Active from anywhere, day or night
Previous anti-tank weapons and armor required a certain space to operate, and an open environment.
But with this system, the picture has completely changed. Because of its lightness, flexibility, and the need for only one operator, it is able to attack enemy tanks from anywhere: from the roof of a building, from behind a tree, or from inside a hole, and it can also fire safely from inside places. Enclosed, such as rooms, even with the presence of soldiers or other people.
"You can be anywhere," says Hofbrandt. "You can shoot at a 45-degree angle, you can shoot from inside a building, from the basement, from the second floor, or wherever. The system is just as effective day or night."
Destroy different targets
It is a weapon dedicated to sniping tanks, but it is also effective against a range of other targets such as trucks, buses, and even helicopters, and another important feature is the rapid response time.
“For a trained soldier, it only takes 5 or 6 seconds to transfer the weapon from hand to shoulder, aim and fire, and the missile can cover 400 meters in less than two seconds, which is very fast,” says Hofbrandt.
Saab .. From the aircraft industry to cars to bankruptcy
It remains to be mentioned about the history of the Saab company that manufactured this deadly weapon, as the company is widely known in the world as a car manufacturer, but the fact is that it was established in 1937 for the specific purpose of building and manufacturing warplanes for the Swedish Air Force, and with the approaching war From its end, the company began to search for new markets and ideas to expand, as in 1945 it began producing the first car of its manufacture, a type of Saab 92 that came to light in 1949, and soon the cars manufactured by this company became famous in various parts of the world. As reported by TopSpeed recently.
In December 1989, General Motors announced that it had bought 50% of Saab shares for $600 million with an option to get the rest of the shares. Audi, but GM wanted it to be just another subsidiary of its car dealership in Europe.
With the great financial problems that General Motors was experiencing, the company announced in 2010 the sale of the Saab brand to the Dutch company Spyker, which was also unsuccessful in returning Saab to the right track, as Saab declared bankruptcy in 2011.
The Dutch company's board of directors said that China's Youngman Group announced that it would withdraw its plans to invest in SABB, and that filing for bankruptcy was in the best interests of its creditors.
The decisive element in Youngman's decision was the announcement by General Motors, the former owner of Saab, that it would not allow its technologies used in Saab to be sold to Chinese investors.
The company has stopped producing cars completely since 2012, after auto parts companies stopped supplying them due to non-payment of the necessary financial compensation.