RBS 56 BILL - Swedish ATGM

The RBS 56 BILL is a Swedish manportable SACLOS anti-tank missile developed by AB Bofors. Development began in 1979 and entered production in 1985. BILL stands for (Bofors, Infantry, Light and Lethal). By 1996 15,000 missiles had been produced and supplied to the Swedish and Austrian armies. Between 1996 and 1997 Brazil received a number of missiles. In the late 1990s production shifted to the Bill 2. The Swedish army received the first deliveries of the BILL 2 in 1999.

A man portable BILL system consists of a missile in a sealed launch tube, tripod, day sight and thermal night-vision sight. The missile's shaped charge warhead is aimed downwards at an angle of 30 degrees and is triggered by a proximity fuze as the missile passes over the intended target.

The top attack warhead allows the missile to strike the thinner top armour of tanks. To enable this to work effectively the missile flies 0.75 meters above the line of sight between the launcher and the target. A secondary effect of this is to enable the missile to be used to engage targets largely behind cover, for example a hull down tank.

When launched the missile is propelled from the launch tube at around 72 meters per second by a gas generator at the rear of the launch tube. Once the missile is clear of the launch tube the sustainer motor engages and accelerates the missile to a speed of 250 meters per second. Once the missile is about 400 meters from the launcher, the sustainer motor cuts out and the missile continues in free flight.

The missile is steered in flight by coded commands trasmitted from the launcher by a laser mounted on the launcher using a SACLOS system.

RBS 56 BILL
Type	SACLOS Anti-tank missile
Place of origin	Sweden
Service history
In service	1985-
Used by	Sweden, Austria, Lithuania, Brazil
Production history
Manufacturer	Bofors
Produced	1985 - lte 1990s
Number built	15,000 +
Specifications
Weight	36 kg (launcher)
Length	900 mm
Diameter	150 mm
Muzzle velocity	250 m/s
Effective range	150 to 2,200 m