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| Specifications Of the RBS 70 MANPADS, Swedish Air Defense System for Ukraine |
International Military - Robotsystem 70 or RBS 70 is a Man-Portable Air-Defense System (MANPADS). The RBS 70 is a Ground-Based Air Defense (GBAD) system designed and manufactured by the Swedish defense company Bofors Defense (now Saab Bofors Dynamics).
The RBS 70 is designed for anti-aircraft warfare in all climate zones and with little or no support from other forces. Primarily used by infantry and paratroopers, against enemy aircraft and helicopter attacks.
The RBS 70 was developed for Swedish air defense as an inexpensive, easy-to-use and effective short-range Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) system. The uniqueness of the RBS 70 is that it is the first weapon of this type to use laser beam guidance, as most MANPADS systems use infrared homing guidance.
“With its impenetrable laser guidance, the RBS 70 is different from other weapons systems. This sophisticated system provides a very flexible solution," said Saab's statement via its official website.
Development of the RBS 70 began in 1967, in response to the Swedish military's need for a MANPADS weapon that could be used in extreme polar weather conditions and minimal logistics.
Now Sweden plans to provide assistance with this weapon to Ukraine in the war against Russia. The RBS 70 is equipped with a New Generation (NG) sight, thus increasing the accuracy and capabilities of the Bolide missile. This new generation of sights is able to reduce tracking noise through the implementation of an automatic tracking function.
The basic RBS 70, consisting of a missile in a launch case, a tripod mount and an optical sight, weighs 87 kg. The RBS 70 missile has a length of 132 cm without a booster, a diameter of 10.6 cm, a fin span of 32 cm and a weight of 15 kg. The 1.1 kg missile warhead is combined with 3,000 tungsten balls and shaped charges.
The RBS 70 system can be operated portable by one person or three people. The missile can be operated in a standalone mode or configured with multiple firing units linked to a surveillance radar to form an anti-aircraft battery.
Quoted from the army recognition page, the RB 70 uses a 15 kg Mk 0 missile with a two-stage model, consisting of solid propellant and powered by a rocket motor. This missile was never removed from the launcher tube while in the field, after being fired the tube was immediately thrown away. Impact fuses and active laser proximity are mounted on the high explosive (HE) pre-fragmented warhead. It is usually surrounded by about 2,000 to 3,000 tungsten pellets each with an optimal diameter of 3 mm.