Milan
The joint venture Euromissile was created in 1972 by Germany's Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) and France's Aerospatiale SA. Since the mid-1970s, and to this day, its Milan and Hot anti-tank weapons and the Roland surface-to-air system have been highly successful. Milan is a second generation anti-tank weapon, the result of a joint development between France and West Germany with British Milan launchers and missiles built under licence in the UK.
The Milan consists of two main components, the launcher and the missile; these are simply clipped together to prepare the system for use. On firing, the operator has only to keep his aiming mark on the target and the Semi Automatic Command to Line of Sight (SACLOS) guidance system will do the rest. The missile is guided for its entire trajectory by an automatic device of remote control using the infra-red radiation (MILAN 1) or an electronic-flash lamp (MILAN 2). Milan, which was initially developed for the French and German infantry, is now in service in 41 countries all over the world. The new-generation weapon Milan 3 has been in service since 1996.
