Anti - tank missile An anti - tank missile ( ATM ) , anti - tank guided missile ( ATGM ) , anti - tank guided weapon ( ATGW ) or anti - armor guided weapon , is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles . ATGMs range in size from shoulder - launched weapons , which can be transported by a single soldier , to larger tripod - mounted weapons , which require a squad or team to transport and fire , to vehicle and aircraft mounted missile systems . The introduction to the modern battlefield of smaller , man - portable ATGMs with larger warhead s has given infantry the ability to defeat light and medium tank s at great ranges , though main battle tanks using composite and reactive armors have proven to be resistant to smaller ATGMs . Earlier infantry anti - tank weapons , such as anti - tank rifle s , anti - tank missiles and magnetic anti - tank mine s , had limited armor - penetration abilities and / or required a soldier to approach the target closely . History . The earliest guided anti - tank missile to see combat was the German Ruhrstahl X - 7 " " Rotkäppchen " " ( little red riding hood ) wire guided missile of World War II . The Rotkäppchen saw limited combat service during 1945 and consisted of a winged missile , resembling a large bird about to land with wingtip steering rocket jets . The warhead was from the standard German 150mm . " Hohlladung Hl / A . " HEAT shell and was capable of penetrating up to 205 mm of perpendicular rolled homogeneous armour plate . The missile was launched from an infantry deployable sled and was guided by a remote joystick control box some distance from the launching sled via wire spooled out during the missile ' s flight . A Rotkäppchen crew consisted of three members , the operator , the sled puller ( with a missile ready to fire ) and the spare missile carrier . Only two missiles were usually carried by a Rotkäppchen team . Accuracy at longer ranges was hampered by the human inability to use stereoscopic vision to judge relative distances after only a few hundred metres . Rotkäppchen operators simply could not tell if the missile was heading for the target or had already flown past it . The SS . 10 is the first anti - tank missile widely used . It entered service in the French Army in 1955 . It was also the first anti - tank missile used by the US Army and Israeli Defense Forces . The Malkara missile ( from an Aboriginal word for " shield " ) was one of the earliest anti - tank guided missile s ( ATGMs ) . It was jointly developed by Australia and the United Kingdom between 1951 and 1954 , and was in service from 1958 until gradually replaced by the Swingfire missile in the late 1960s . It was intended to be light enough to deploy with airborne force s , yet powerful enough to knock out any tank then in service ( it used a 26 kg HESH warhead ) . " First - generation " manually command guided MCLOS missiles require input from an operator using a joystick or similar device to steer the missile to the target . The disadvantage is that the operator must keep the sight ' s cross hairs on the target and then steer the missile into the cross hairs — i . e . the " line - of - sight " . To do this , the operator must be well trained ( spending hundreds of hours on a simulator ) and must remain stationary and in view of the target during the flight time of the missile . Because of this , the operator is vulnerable while guiding the missile . The first system to become operational and to see combat was the French Nord SS . 10 during the early 1950s . " Second - generation " semi - automatically command guided SACLOS missiles require the operator to only keep the sights on the target until impact . Automatic guidance commands are sent to the missile through wires or radio , or the missile relies on laser marking or a TV camera view from the nose of the missile . Examples are the Russian 9M133 Kornet and the American Hellfire I missiles . Again , the operator must remain stationary during the missile ' s flight . " Third - generation " guidance systems rely on a laser , electro - optical imager ( IIR ) seeker or a W band radar seeker in the nose of the missile . Once the target is identified , the missile needs no further guidance during flight ; it is " fire - and - forget " , and the missile operator is free to retreat . However , fire - and - forget missiles are more subject to electronic countermeasures than MCLOS and SACLOS missiles . Examples include the German PARS 3 LR , Israeli LAHAT and Spike and the Indian Nag . Most modern ATGMs have shaped charge high explosive ( HEAT ) warheads , designed specifically for penetrating armor . Tandem - charge missiles attempt to defeat ERA protected armor . The small initial charge sets off the ERA while the follow - up main charge attempts to penetrate the main armor . Top - attack weapons such as the Indian Nag , American Javelin and the Swedish Bill are designed to focus the explosion down through an armored fighting vehicle ' s thinner turret - roof or upper - hull armor . Countermeasures . Countermeasure s against ATGMs include spaced , perforated , and composite armour , explosive reactive armour , jammer s like the Russian Shtora , and active protection system s ( APS ) like the Israeli Trophy and the Russian Arena . Armour systems have continued in development alongside ATGMs , and the most recent generations of armor are specifically tested to be effective against ATGM strikes , either by ' tricking ' the missile into not detonating against the armor itself ( such as in Slat armor ) or using some form of reactive armor to ' attack ' the missile upon impact , disrupting shaped charge that makes the warhead effective . Both come with the downside of significant weight and bulk . Reactive armor requires a vehicle be specifically designed with the system integrated and while developments continue to make armor lighter , any vehicle that includes such a system necessitates a powerful engine and will still be relatively slow . Slat armor is lighter and as such can be added to many vehicles after construction but still adds both bulk and weight . Particularly for vehicles that are designed to be transported by cargo aircraft , slat armor has to be fitted in field after deployment . Either approach can never offer complete coverage over the vehicle , leaving tracks or wheels particularly vulnerable to attack . Jamming is potentially an effective countermeasure to specific missiles that are radar guided , however , as a general purpose defense , it is of no use against unguided anti - tank weapons , and as such it is almost never the only defense . If jamming is used continually , it can be extremely difficult for a missile to acquire the target , locking on to the much larger return from the jammer , with the operator unlikely noticing the difference without a radar screen to see the return . However , any missile that has a back up tracking system can defeat jamming . Active protection systems show a great deal of promise , both in counteracting ATGMs and unguided weapons , but are not yet a proven technology . Compared to armor systems , they are very lightweight , can be fitted to almost any vehicle with the internal space for the control system and could , in the future , be a near - perfect defense against any missiles . The weakness of the systems include potential developments in missile design such as radar or IR decoys , which would drastically reduce their chance to intercept a missile , as well as technical challenges such as dealing with multiple missiles at once and designing a system that can cover a vehicle from any angle of attack . While these may be answered and allow for lightweight , highly maneuverable vehicles that are strongly defended against missiles and rockets that are extremely well suited for urban and guerrilla warfare . However , such a system is unlikely to be as effective against kinetic energy projectiles , making it a poor choice for fighting against tanks . Traditionally , before " fire - and - forget " ATGMs were used , the most effective countermeasure was to open fire at the location where the missile was fired from , to either force the operator to take cover or kill him and thus making the missile go out of control and miss the target . While fire and forget missiles have definitive advantages in terms of guidance and operator safety , and include abilities such as top attack mode , older missiles continue in use , both in the front line armies of less developed countries , and in reserve service the world over , due to their lower cost or existing stockpiles of less advanced weapons .