MBB Anti-Armour Projects

[Voltzz]

I just found a very interesting picture on wikipedia, and i dont know where else to post it. All information i have for now is from wikipedia so take it with a grain of salt. i found it on the LRAC F1 article so maybe it was an alternative proposal for that program. In the image the rocket launcher at the top is the LRAC and the on at the bottom is apparently a MBB Armbrust with a Milan 2 warhead developed as a cooperation between MBB and Luchaire. So its a 67mm tube with a standoff probe 115mm warhead. Sounds very similar to the Panzerfaust 3 (60mm/110mm). But ofc the PzF 3 was built by Dynamit Nobel. Its was called the AC300 Jupiter. Will try to find more information later, but i would appreciate any sources.
Edit: could also be fake btw

 

[Voltzz]

source

 

[Grey Havoc]

MBB PAD (PanzerAbwehrDrohne [Anti-Tank Drone])

 

[Voltzz]

MBB PAD (PanzerAbwehrDrohne [Anti-Tank Drone])

for some reason the dtic link in your original post doesnt work for me. Is that a problem on my side or is the link broken?

 

[Grey Havoc]

DTIC has been a right old mess of late, unfortunately.

 

[Voltzz]

DTIC has been a right old mess of late, unfortunately.

got it to work using archive.org
it mentions a lot of interesting projects. i would love to start a topic on all these different german drones, but theres just so little information and its scattered all over the place. But there was such a wealth of different proposals/programms(KDH, DAR, SEAMOS,...) its kinda sad that so much information is lost.

 

[Voltzz]

Another source on the AC300 Jupiter that i forgot to post:

In 1982 the firm of Luchaire created [sozdat] on an
initiative basis jointly with the West German firm of
Messerschmitt-Boelkow-Blohm the Jupiter AC 300
handheld AT rocket launcher, the operating principle of
which is the very same as for the Armbrust handheld AT
weapon. This permits firing from small enclosed
emplacements. Firing of the handheld AT rocket
launcher is not accompanied by flame or smoke and
sound intensity is lower than when firing a pistol.
The over-caliber rocket-assisted projectile is fitted with a
shaped-charge warhead. There is a probe in front which
triggers the charge at the optimum distance from an
armor obstacle. A rocket motor engages on the initial leg
of the trajectory, increasing the projectile's muzzle veloc-
ity from 180 to 275 m/sec. Stabilizer fins open up when
it emerges from the launching tube.

the document also has an interesting chart compering the characteristics of different handheld rocket launchers

 

[Voltzz]

MBB LASSO area-defense mine

 

[Voltzz]

Found a article in an Austrian military magazine about different German proposals for a Pzf 3 replacement. One of those was this rather weird DASA proposal of a fire-and-forget top-attack munition:

DASA concept
The DASA concept is not based on the PzF 3, but examines, on the basis of the armor, bunkers and position systems currently in place, the possibility of defending against a predominantly tank attack.
One focus is the 1000-m anti-tank weapon. Two options for defending against a tank attack are currently being shortlisted: the "Top Attack" principle and the "Dive Attack" principle.
In the "Top Attack" principle, a projectile is fired signature-free from a weapon standing on the ground at a speed of about 200 m/s and, at the end of its ballistic flight, is directed into the target by means of radar sensors and impulse control. Engagement and destruction of the target is accomplished by a tandem shaped-charge warhead weighing about 8 kg.
The "Dive Attack" principle also uses a weapon on the ground to fire a
The "Dive Attack" principle also involves firing a signature-free projectile from a weapon on the ground at a speed of about 30 m/s, but diverting it into a horizontal flight phase after firing. A cruise engine brings the projectile to the target area at an altitude of 50 meters. The target is detected by a forward-looking radar sensor.

The two other proposals included in this article are a Rheinmetall proposal for a guided fire-and-forget Pzf 3 and a Dynamit Nobel/Rafael proposal for retrofitting the PzF 3 with a beam-riding guidance kit

 

[timmymagic]

Another source on the AC300 Jupiter that i forgot to post:

In 1982 the firm of Luchaire created [sozdat] on an
initiative basis jointly with the West German firm of
Messerschmitt-Boelkow-Blohm the Jupiter AC 300
handheld AT rocket launcher, the operating principle of
which is the very same as for the Armbrust handheld AT
weapon. This permits firing from small enclosed
emplacements. Firing of the handheld AT rocket
launcher is not accompanied by flame or smoke and
sound intensity is lower than when firing a pistol.
The over-caliber rocket-assisted projectile is fitted with a
shaped-charge warhead. There is a probe in front which
triggers the charge at the optimum distance from an
armor obstacle. A rocket motor engages on the initial leg
of the trajectory, increasing the projectile's muzzle veloc-
ity from 180 to 275 m/sec. Stabilizer fins open up when
it emerges from the launching tube.

the document also has an interesting chart compering the characteristics of different handheld rocket launchers

Has to be said the LAW-80 comes out of that comparison looking like a very decent system.

 

[Voltzz]

Another image of the AC300 Jupiter

 

[Voltzz]

Found a article in an Austrian military magazine about different German proposals for a Pzf 3 replacement. One of those was this rather weird DASA proposal of a fire-and-forget top-attack munition:

This German article has some more detail on this project.
Interestingly both the top-attack and dive-attack variants were not launched from the shoulder but instead from a tube braced to the ground, comparable to a commando-mortar or some modern loitering munitions.
This is not just a weird choice in the illustrations, but confirmed in the text:

Aus einer am Boden stehenden Waffe erfolgt der signaturfreie Abschuß ...

 

[TomS]

comparable to a commando-mortar or some modern loitering munitions.

I wonder if this was connected to the prohibition on guided missiles for Austria that lasted until the late 1980s, I believe. This weapon could be played off as a "mortar" rather than a "missile." Strictly a semantic difference but maybe legally convenient?