RBS 70

The RBS 70 is a Swedish man-portable air defence missile system made by Bofors and developed first for the Swedish Armed Forces, which required a long intercept range in the head-on sector, high accuracy, immunity to jamming and the ability to engage down to the ground. It is a laser beam-riding system: the operator, seated at a stand, keeps the sight cross-hairs on the target and the missile follows the laser beam, whose width narrows as the missile nears the target to raise accuracy. The system weighs 80 kilograms and a crew of three can assemble it in 30 seconds. The intercept range is about 7 kilometres head-on. The basic configuration is a tripod, a sight and a missile, and it can be linked to a surveillance radar or fired autonomously; a clip-on night device allows round-the-clock use and a vehicle-launched version fits wheeled and tracked carriers. The Mark 2 missile adds a shaped charge surrounded by more than 3,000 tungsten pellets and a laser proximity fuze. It is operational in 13 customer countries.