# List of anti-tank missiles
An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) is a missile-launching system whose projectile is steered, or "guided," to its target after launch, designed originally to disable armored vehicles and later adapted against bunkers, buildings, and other targets.[1](https://www.smallarmssurvey.org/resource/anti-tank-guided-weapons-research-note-16) This article lists notable anti-tank guided missiles by generation and country of origin, with their guidance methods and key characteristics.
| Missile | Origin | Guidance | Notable facts |
|---|---|---|---|
| SS.10 | France | Wire, MCLOS | First widely deployed ATGM (1955); tested by the U.S. Army in 1953 and found unsatisfactory[2](https://tank-afv.com/antitank/antitank-missiles.php) • [3](https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-tow.html) |
| ENTAC | France | Wire | 37.5 lb complete with launcher; range 400 to 2,000 m; U.S. Army inventory 1961 to 1969[4](https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-entac.html) |
| Malkara | Australia / UK | Wire | Heavy wire-guided weapon; development began 1952; range about 4,000 yards (3,700 m)[5](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/australia/malkara.htm) |
| AT-3 Sagger (9M14 Malyutka) | Soviet Union | Wire, MCLOS | Developed in the early 1960s; fired in large numbers by Egyptian infantry in 1973[6](https://missilethreat.csis.org/country/hezbollahs-rocket-arsenal/) • [7](https://www.benning.army.mil/armor/eARMOR/content/issues/1998/MAR_APR/ArmorMarchApril1998web.pdf) |
| BGM-71 TOW | United States | Wire, SACLOS | Fielded 1970; 3,000 m basic range; used by 46 allied nations[3](https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-tow.html) |
| M47 Dragon | United States | Wire | Medium-range missile light enough for a single infantryman; first deployed 1975[8](https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-dragon.html) |
| BILL 2 | Sweden | Wire, SACLOS | Overfly top attack; laser sensor profiles the target beneath the missile[9](https://www.army-technology.com/projects/bofors/) |
| FGM-148 Javelin | United States | Imaging infrared, fire-and-forget | Lock-on before launch; top-attack or direct-attack modes; over 5,000 fired in combat as of January 2019[10](https://odin.t2com.army.mil/WEG/Asset/FGM-148F_Javelin_American_Anti-Tank_Guided_Missile_%28ATGM%29) |
| NLAW | Sweden / UK | Predicted line of sight | Range 20 to 800 m; overfly top attack effective from 20 m; penetrates more than 500 mm of armor[11](https://www.saab.com/products/nlaw) |
## First-generation wire-guided missiles
The first ATGMs appeared when advances in armor made traditional direct-fire anti-tank guns and rocket launchers less effective.[1](https://www.smallarmssurvey.org/resource/anti-tank-guided-weapons-research-note-16) During World War II several countries had studied guided weapons in which wires carried a steering signal from a controller at the launch site to the missile in flight; after the war this work continued notably in France and Australia.[3](https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-tow.html)
**French pioneers.** By the early 1950s French work produced the SS.10 wire-guided missile, the first widely deployed ATGM in 1955.[2](https://tank-afv.com/antitank/antitank-missiles.php) The U.S. Army tested the SS.10 in 1953, found it unsatisfactory, and began its own wire-command missile program called DART; when DART proved disappointing by the summer of 1958, the Army procured limited quantities of an improved SS.10, and later the ENTAC and SS.11, as interim antitank systems.[3](https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-tow.html) The ENTAC (ENgin Teleguided Anti-Char), a solid-propellant wire-guided missile built by Nord Aviation, weighed 37.5 pounds complete with its box-like launcher and had a range of 400 to 2,000 meters; the gunner tracked it optically and steered it with a swivel stick, commands passing through fine wire paid out from the missile.[4](https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-entac.html) The U.S. Army bought the ENTAC in 1961 to replace the SS.10, used it in Vietnam, and declared it obsolete on 21 April 1969.[4](https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-entac.html)
**British and Australian work.** Development of Malkara, a heavy wire-guided antitank weapon, began in 1952 in Australia as a collaboration between the Aeronautical Research Laboratories and the Long Range Weapons Establishment; the [British Army](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-army) later joined the effort, and the missile had a range of about 4,000 yards (3,700 m).[5](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/australia/malkara.htm)
**Soviet missiles.** The Soviet AT-3 Sagger (9M14 Malyutka) is a manual command to line of sight (MCLOS) wire-guided ATGM developed in the early 1960s, and the [AT-4 Spigot](https://www.edgepedia.org/9k111-fagot), developed in the 1960s, is a semi-automatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) wire-guided missile.[6](https://missilethreat.csis.org/country/hezbollahs-rocket-arsenal/) In MCLOS operation the gunner flies the missile onto the target with a joystick; SACLOS automates this by keeping the missile on the gunner's line of sight.
## The 1973 test
First-generation wire-guided Sagger missiles operated by joystick control were fired by Egyptian infantrymen at Israeli tanks operating without infantry support during the 1973 [Yom Kippur War](https://www.edgepedia.org/yom-kippur-war), taking a heavy toll on the armored forces counterattacking across the [Suez Canal](https://www.edgepedia.org/suez-canal).[7](https://www.benning.army.mil/armor/eARMOR/content/issues/1998/MAR_APR/ArmorMarchApril1998web.pdf) Israeli tankers learned to turn and fire toward the missile's launch signature and to dodge at the last second; one tank returned with more than a dozen Sagger wires draped over its hull.[7](https://www.benning.army.mil/armor/eARMOR/content/issues/1998/MAR_APR/ArmorMarchApril1998web.pdf) The war's lessons pushed armies toward combined-arms tactics in which infantry cleared ATGM positions ahead of tanks.[7](https://www.benning.army.mil/armor/eARMOR/content/issues/1998/MAR_APR/ArmorMarchApril1998web.pdf) Saggers and AT-4 Spigots were still being used with skill by [Hezbollah](https://www.edgepedia.org/hezbollah) against Israeli armor in South Lebanon in the 1990s.[6](https://missilethreat.csis.org/country/hezbollahs-rocket-arsenal/)
## Second generation: TOW, Dragon, and their peers
**BGM-71 TOW.** The tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided (TOW) missile is a crew-portable, vehicle-mounted heavy anti-armor system that can engage tanks, other armored vehicles, bunkers, and non-armored targets in all weather, with a limited self-defense capability against helicopters.[3](https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-tow.html) The original BGM-71A Basic TOW was fielded in 1970 with a 3,000-meter range; later versions added an extended probe (ITOW, 1981), a full-caliber 6-inch warhead (TOW 2), a tandem warhead against explosive reactive armor (TOW 2A), and a "flyover shootdown" design with two explosively formed penetrator warheads (TOW 2B).[3](https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-tow.html) A total of 46 allied nations use the TOW, which is co-produced in Switzerland.[3](https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-tow.html)
TOW entered combat on 2 May 1972 near Kontum, South Vietnam, when Chief Warrant Officer Carroll W. Lain fired the first American-made guided missile used in combat by U.S. soldiers; that day the 1st Combat Aerial TOW Team, firing XM26 subsystems from UH-1B Huey helicopters, destroyed four M-41 tanks, a 2½-ton truck, and a 105mm howitzer, with hits from 2,700 meters.[3](https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-tow.html) • [12](https://www.army.mil/article/181893/) Ground-based TOW launchers, about 2,500 missiles, and instructors followed within days.[3](https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-tow.html)
**M47 Dragon.** The Dragon is a medium-range, wire-guided antitank missile light enough to be carried and fired by a single infantryman, first deployed in 1975; between October 1976 and September 1977, 2,288 rounds were test-fired with a reliability factor (less warhead) of 91 percent.[8](https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-dragon.html)
**BILL 2.** The Swedish BILL 2 uses SACLOS wire guidance with an overfly top-attack profile; an optical (laser) sensor acts as a rangefinder, measuring the height of the target beneath the missile and profiling it simultaneously.[9](https://www.army-technology.com/projects/bofors/)
## Helicopter-launched and fiber-optic missiles
The United States began developing the [AGM-114 Hellfire](https://www.edgepedia.org/agm-114-hellfire) in 1972 to meet an Army requirement for a helicopter-launched antitank missile against Soviet armor formations.[13](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/agm-114-hellfire/) A separate non-line-of-sight line grew out of TOW: the FOG-M system replaced the wire guidance cable with a fiber-optic cable relaying television images from the missile's nose camera to the gunner's station, and Raytheon's 1995 Advanced Technology Demonstration contract produced the EFOGM, which added an imaging infrared seeker.[14](https://www.army-technology.com/projects/efogm/)
## Fire-and-forget missiles
**FGM-148 Javelin.** The Javelin is an American man-portable, fire-and-forget ATGM fielded to replace the Dragon in U.S. service.[10](https://odin.t2com.army.mil/WEG/Asset/FGM-148F_Javelin_American_Anti-Tank_Guided_Missile_%28ATGM%29) It uses lock-on before launch with automatic infrared self-guidance, so the gunner can seek cover immediately after firing instead of steering the missile throughout the engagement as wire-guided systems require.[10](https://odin.t2com.army.mil/WEG/Asset/FGM-148F_Javelin_American_Anti-Tank_Guided_Missile_%28ATGM%29) Its imaging infrared seeker and tandem warhead support a top-attack flight profile against armored vehicles, where armor is thinnest, and a direct-attack mode against buildings, close-in targets, targets under obstructions, and helicopters.[15](https://www.army.mil/article/266368/army_announces_contract_award_for_javelin_missile_syste) [Lockheed Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/lockheed-martin) states an engagement envelope of 65 meters to 4 kilometers in most operating conditions.[16](https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/javelin/javelin-media-kit.html) As of January 2019, more than 5,000 Javelin missiles had been fired in combat.[10](https://odin.t2com.army.mil/WEG/Asset/FGM-148F_Javelin_American_Anti-Tank_Guided_Missile_%28ATGM%29)
**NLAW.** The Saab NLAW (Next Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapon), developed in cooperation between Sweden and the UK where it is designated Robot 57 and MBT LAW respectively, is a single-soldier missile system with a combat range of 20 to 800 meters.[11](https://www.saab.com/products/nlaw) It requires no lock-on signature: the operator tracks the target for a few seconds before firing, and the missile's predicted line of sight (PLOS) guidance does the rest.[11](https://www.saab.com/products/nlaw) In overfly top attack mode the missile travels one meter above the line of sight and strikes the tank from above, a mode effective from just 20 meters; in direct attack mode it engages soft targets such as trucks, buses, cars, and helicopters.[11](https://www.saab.com/products/nlaw) Saab states the warhead can penetrate more than 500 mm of armor.[11](https://www.saab.com/products/nlaw)
## References
1. [Anti-tank Guided Weapons (Research Note 16), Small Arms Survey](https://www.smallarmssurvey.org/resource/anti-tank-guided-weapons-research-note-16)
2. [The encyclopediae of antitank missiles from WW2 to this day, tank-afv.com](https://tank-afv.com/antitank/antitank-missiles.php)
3. [TOW, Redstone Arsenal Historical Information, U.S. Army](https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-tow.html)
4. [ENTAC, Redstone Arsenal Historical Information, U.S. Army](https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-entac.html)
5. [Malkara, anti-tank guided missile, GlobalSecurity.org](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/australia/malkara.htm)
6. [Missiles and Rockets of Hezbollah, Missile Threat, CSIS](https://missilethreat.csis.org/country/hezbollahs-rocket-arsenal/)
7. [A Crisis of Confidence in Armor?, Armor, March-April 1998, U.S. Army Armor School](https://www.benning.army.mil/armor/eARMOR/content/issues/1998/MAR_APR/ArmorMarchApril1998web.pdf)
8. [DRAGON, Redstone Arsenal Historical Information, U.S. Army](https://history.redstone.army.mil/miss-dragon.html)
9. [BILL 2 Anti-Tank Guided Weapon, Army Technology](https://www.army-technology.com/projects/bofors/)
10. [FGM-148F Javelin American Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM), ODIN, U.S. Army](https://odin.t2com.army.mil/WEG/Asset/FGM-148F_Javelin_American_Anti-Tank_Guided_Missile_%28ATGM%29)
11. [NLAW - Anti-tank weapon, Saab](https://www.saab.com/products/nlaw)
12. [U.S. Army Air-to-Ground (ATG) Missiles in Vietnam, U.S. Army](https://www.army.mil/article/181893/)
13. [AGM-114 Hellfire, Missile Threat, CSIS](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/agm-114-hellfire/)
14. [EFOGM Anti-Armour Missile Vehicle, Army Technology](https://www.army-technology.com/projects/efogm/)
15. [Army announces contract award for Javelin Missile System, U.S. Army](https://www.army.mil/article/266368/army_announces_contract_award_for_javelin_missile_syste)
16. [Javelin Media Kit, Lockheed Martin](https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/javelin/javelin-media-kit.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Engineering and manufacturing › Missiles and rocketry › Anti-tank and ground-attack weapons*
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