Swingfire

Swingfire was a British wire-guided anti-tank missile developed in the 1960s and produced from 1966 until 1993. The name refers to its ability to make a rapid turn of up to ninety degrees after firing to bring it onto the line of the sighting mechanism. This means that the launcher vehicle could be concealed and the operator, using a portable sight, placed at a distance in a more advantageous firing position. Swingfire entered operational service in 1969 and underwent several major upgrades during its time in service. It was used on a number of vehicles including the FV438, FV102 and several truck mountings including the Land Rover and Ferret armoured car. Concepts adapting it to helicopters, tanks and even hovercraft went nowhere. Swingfire remained in service on the FV102 Striker until 2005 when they were retired in favour of man-portable missiles. The British Army was among the first to introduce a heavy anti-tank missile when they introduced the Malkara in 1958. The Malkara had a number of problems, among them that the missiles had to be raised into the line of sight for firing, and the missile left a line of smoke from its rocket motor that lingered long enough to point directly back to the launcher. Additionally, the guidance system was difficult to use and had limited performance against moving targets. Malkara was nevertheless purchased for the airborne infantry to allow them to deal with Soviet armour at long range. Desiring a more capable weapon, the Ministry of Supply funded the Orange William development at Fairey Engineering Ltd beginning in 1954. The idea behind Orange William was that the launcher and guidance systems were separated by up to , allowing the launcher to remain far behind the front line while the small and heavily camouflaged guidance vehicle moved forward where it could see the enemy. Unfortunately, testing demonstrated the selected guidance system was easily blocked by smoke and dust, making it ineffective on the battlefield.