NLAW
Shoulder-fired, single-use anti-tank missile with overfly top-attack and fire-and-forget PLOS guidance — the weapon that defined Ukraine's close-quarters tank-killing in 2022.
Joint Swedish-British disposable anti-tank guided missile — fire-and-forget top-attack from 20 meters, the weapon that reshaped infantry anti-armor combat in Ukraine.
Overview
The NLAW (Next generation Light Anti-tank Weapon), known in UK service as MBT LAW and in Sweden as Robot 57 (RB 57), is a man-portable, single-use anti-tank guided missile fielded by more than half a dozen nations and made famous by its decisive role in the opening phase of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A 12.5 kg round fired from the shoulder of a single soldier, it uses an inertially guided overfly top-attack flight path to punch through the thin roof armour of a main battle tank from as little as 20 metres away. Designed by Saab Bofors Dynamics and assembled by Thales in Belfast, the NLAW became the “weapon of choice” for Ukrainian small units in 2022, with donated stocks exceeding 5,000 rounds.
Development
Sweden’s 1990s requirement for a disposable, soldier-portable tank killer merged with a British need for a lightweight anti-armour weapon after studies showed existing systems were too heavy or too complex. In October 1999 the UK Defence Procurement Agency selected Bofors (later Saab) to build a prototype, and a joint UK-Sweden contract worth ~SEK 4.8 billion was signed in June 2002, according to a Wikipedia summary of the program. The design drew on technology from the BILL 2 top-attack missile and the AT4 CS confined-space launcher. A “Team MBT LAW UK” of 14 subcontractors was formed, with final assembly centred at Thales Air Defence in Belfast; full-rate production began in 2008 and the British Army received its first rounds in 2009, as noted by Thales.
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