MILAN (missile)

MILAN (Missile d´infanterie léger antichar; Anti-Tank Light Infantry Missile, "milan(e)" is French for "kite") is a European anti-tank guided missile. 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 thermal sight, or MILIS to give it night-firing ability.

History
MILAN is a French and German missile that has been license-built by Italy, Spain, Britain and India. As it is guided by wire by an operator, this missile can avoid most countermeasures (flares and chaffs). The drawbacks are its short range, the exposure of the operator, and that it requires a skilled and well-trained operator.

Variants



 * MILAN 1: Single, Main Shaped Charge Warhead (1972), calibre 103 mm
 * MILAN 2: Single, Main Shaped Charge Warhead, with standoff probe to increase penetration (1984) - see photo to right, calibre 115 mm
 * MILAN 2T: Single main Shaped Charge, with smaller shape charge warhead at end of standoff probe to defeat reactive armour (1993)
 * MILAN 3: Tandem, Shaped Charge Warheads (1996) and electronic beacon
 * MILAN ER: Extended Range (3000 m) and improved penetration

The later MILAN models have tandem HEAT warheads. This was done to keep pace with developments in Soviet armour technology. Soviet tanks began to appear with explosive reactive armour, which could defeat earlier ATGMs. The smaller precursor HEAT warhead penetrates and detonates the ERA tiles, paving the way for the main HEAT warhead to penetrate the armour behind.



Operators

 * 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan - Azerbaijani Land Forces
 * 🇦🇫 Afghanistan - Afghan National Army
 * 🇦🇲 Armenia - Armed Forces of Armenia
 * 🇧🇷 Brazil - Brazilian Army
 * 🇧🇪 Belgium - Belgian Army: Infantry weapon; to be replaced by Spike-MR missile.
 * - Chadian Ground Forces: Infantry weapon.
 * 🇨🇾 - Cypriot National Guard
 * 🇪🇪 - Estonian Defence Forces
 * 🇪🇬 - Egyptian Army: Mounted on light vehicles. 220 units are used.
 * 🇫🇷 - French Army: Infantry and vehicle-mounted weapon. Being replaced by FGM-148 Javelin.
 * 🇩🇪 - Bundeswehr: Mounted primarily on Marder and TPz Fuchs fighting vehicles; to be replaced by EUROSPIKE.
 * - Hellenic Army
 * 🇮🇳 - Indian Army: Infantry and vehicle-mounted weapon. Around 30,000 built under license by Bharat Dynamics. The Indian Army has also spent close to US$120 million on 4,100 new MILAN-2T ATGMs.
 * 🇮🇶 - Iraqi Army: One reportedly hit a British Challenger 2 MBT during the early stages of Operation Telic along with multiple rocket-propelled grenades. The tank survived the attack.
 * 🇮🇹 - Italian Army: Infantry weapon. Built under license by Oto Melara; subsequently upgraded to MILAN 2T.
 * 🇰🇪 - Kenyan Army: Infantry weapon.
 * 🇱🇧 - Lebanese Army
 * 🇱🇾 - Libyan National Army
 * undefined - Mauritanian Army
 * 🇲🇽 - Mexican Army (Ejército Mexicano): Mounted primarily on Panhard VBL scout cars; at least 16 launchers and several hundred missiles are available.
 * 🇲🇦 - Royal Moroccan Army
 * 🇵🇰 - Pakistan Army
 * - Portuguese Army; Portuguese Marines
 * - South African Army: 375 missiles.
 * 🇪🇸 - Spanish Army: Upgraded to MILAN 2/2T.
 * 🇸🇾 - Syrian Army: About 1000 missiles used in the anti-vehicular role.
 * Free Syrian Army: Some captured.
 * 🇹🇳 - Tunisian Armed Forces: 120 missiles.
 * 🇹🇷 - Turkish Army
 * - Uruguayan Army
 * 🇾🇪 - Yemeni security forces

Former Operators

 * 🇦🇺 Australia - Australian Army: Was used by infantry and mounted on vehicles. The Australian Army withdrew the MILAN from service in the early 1990s. The ADF now fields the FGM-148 Javelin system.
 * 🇮🇪 - Irish Army: Infantry weapon; replaced by the FGM-148 Javelin.
 * 🇸🇬 - Singapore Army: Replaced by the Israeli Spike.
 * UNITA: 150 missiles.
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom - British Army; Royal Marines - Primarily an infantry weapon, although the FV120 Spartan MCT turret is also party. Over 50,000 missiles purchased for use in the British Armed Forces. The MILAN was deployed against Argentine bunkers in the Falklands conflict and later against T-55s during the Gulf War. It was replaced by the FGM-148 Javelin in mid-2005.