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Sea Venom - Think Defence Sea Venom is an advanced replacement for the battle-proven Sea Skua air-to-surface missile, equipping Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters

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Dive into its history and capabilities ➡️

The unique ESARCO vehicles were developed as a private venture after lessons identified by the British Army in the 1982 Falklands Conflict, namely, the need for lightweight high mobility load carriage.

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Read more about Swingfire at the link

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A helicopter launched version called Hawkswing was also developed, although not introduced.

There was a proposal for a tank launched Swingfire and even an armed Stalwart.

Swingfire was fitted to FV712 Ferret Mk5

The CVR(T) family of vehicles included the FV102 Striker, equipped with 5 launch canisters.

Two missiles could be ripple fired from the FV438, simultaneously, automatically and independently guided to hit two separate targets. The launcher could be reloaded from inside. The FV438 vehicles were operated by the Royal Artillery.

A modified FV432, designated FV438, had a non-traversable turret and two launchers, with 14 missiles and crew under armour.

A lighter version of Golfswing was designed and tested, but not introduced.

Golfswing was a lightweight trailer mounted version, with four missile canisters.

A simplified launcher was shown on several vehicles, including the Rayner Saboteur Trooper and Supacat ATMP.

Swingfire was designed for ease of integration and platform independence. A four round palletised launcher was developed that could be mounted on light vehicles, called Beeswing, or Swingfire Pallet.

Combined with the immediate direction change after launch, the Swingfire launcher could be extremely difficult to locate, increasing survivability enormously when compared to comparative systems.

Another standout feature of the Swingfire was its use of a remote sighting unit. This allowed the launch vehicle to take a concealed or hull-down position. The remote sight could be positioned up to 100 meters away horizontally and 23 meters higher or lower.

Swingfire got its name from a distinctive feature. Once launched, the missile could quickly change direction by 90 degrees using a 'jetivator'. This allowed the firing position to remain hidden, it could, quite literally, fly out of a barn door, and then do a 90-degree turn

Swingfire was quite advanced at the time. The shaped charge warhead weighed in at 7 kg alone and could be used against targets from 150m to 4,000m and at up to 70 degrees angle of attack, with a maximum range of 4,000m.

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Approximately 46,650 Swingfire missiles were produced. Swingfire saw service in the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 Iraq conflict, its swan song.

Alongside SWIG, the Defence Research Agency (DRA) also worked on a project called FOLLAM between 1988 and 1993. FOLLAM stood for Fibre Optically Linked Long-range Adaptable Missile.

The MoD awarded a £35m five-year contract to British Aerospace in 1990 to upgrade the Swingfire wire-guided anti-tank missile system. It was called the Swingfire Improved Guidance (SWIG) programme. Most notably, it would also change the guidance from command to automatic command.

Development and testing progressed through to 1969, when Swingfire was formally accepted into service. In 1980, a thermal sighting system was introduced, with orders placed in 1984.

After Orange William was cancelled in 1959, industry continued to develop similar concepts, culminating in Swingfire. It was first mentioned by the government in 1962 as a replacement for the Malkara missile (even though engineering work started in 1960)

Swingfire was a British wire-guided 4 km range anti-tank missile developed in the 1960s, seeing action in multiple theatres and only leaving service in 2003.

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The Swingfire ATGW

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NEW BLOG POST

Resupply reduction, food and rations

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The JCB Fastrac - Think Defence The JCB Fastrac is a high-speed agricultural and utility tractor that has an unusual ability to operate at higher road speeds than conventional designs.

The JCB Fastrac is a high speed farm and utility tractor that has an unusualability to operate at higher road speeds than conventional designs.

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The False Promise of New Technology - Think Defence In this guest post, Matthew Ford discusses the British Army and the (new) calibre debate.

In this article, Matthew Ford talks about the British Army and the (new) calibre debate…

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