The RBS 56B BILL 2 Anti-Tank Guided Weapon is a man-portable or
vehicle-mounted guided
anti-tank missile using the
overfly top attack
Plunging fire is a form of indirect fire, where gunfire is fired at a trajectory to make it fall on its target from above. It is normal at the high trajectories used to attain long range, and can be used deliberately to attack a target not suscep ...
method to attack the weaker parts of an
armoured vehicle. BILL is acronym for ''Bofors Infantry Light & Lethal''.
System
Design
The RBS 56B BILL 2 was designed upon the original
BILL 1 Anti-tank guided weapon
The RBS 56 BILL is a Swedish manportable SACLOS wire-guided anti-tank missile developed by AB Bofors. Development began in 1979 and entered production in 1985. The Swedish Army began receiving the missile in March 1988. BILL stands for (Bofors, ...
that has been in the service of the
Swedish Army
The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces.
History
Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...
since 1988. The BILL 2 is currently produced by
Saab Bofors Dynamics, who are located in
Karlskoga, Sweden. The BILL 2 comes with one 10.5 kg missile, a launching tube,
tripod with x7 magnification day sight, and one
thermal imaging sight.
Operation
The RBS 56B BILL 2 uses OTA or
Overfly Top Attack
Plunging fire is a form of indirect fire, where gunfire is fired at a trajectory to make it fall on its target from above. It is normal at the high trajectories used to attain long range, and can be used deliberately to attack a target not suscep ...
to attack its target. The missile flies towards the target on a standard horizontal
trajectory, but rather than directly hitting the target head on, it overflies it, detonating its warhead on top of an armored vehicle, where the
armour
Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...
is usually lighter. It also utilizes additional guidance accuracy via the installed rate
gyro, which monitors the tracking movement of the launcher. It is designed primarily to attack armoured or unarmoured vehicles, but can also be used to attack
helicopters or soft ground targets, such as light buildings.
The BILL 2 can be mounted onto a variety of vehicles and then fired remotely from inside the vehicle.
Firing Modes
The BILL 2 has three firing modes that the launcher's operator can select, before launching the missile.
* Basic – In this mode the missile will use both of its sensors to hit the armoured vehicle from the top.
* Non-Armored – In this mode the missile uses no sensors and flies on a LOS or line-of-sight, while using the impact fuse.
* Soft Target – In this mode the optical sensor is used, but the magnetic sensor is not. The missile then uses OTA to attack its target.
Missile
The BILL 2 Missile uses a
SACLOS or semi-automatic command to line-of-sight guidance system, and is controlled via a communications wire that trails behind the missile from the launch tube. The BILL 2 warhead has an optical and magnetic sensor. The optical sensor serves to find the target's range, while the magnetic sensor detects metallic targets to determine the best point for the missile to detonate. The BILL 2 contains both a
proximity fuse and an inertial impact fuse. The BILL 2 is armed with a pair of vertically striking
explosively formed penetrator warheads, which each direct a self-forging slug of metal downwards at extreme velocities using a high explosive blast. The 40mm frontal "precursor" warhead destroys any
reactive armour protecting the target and leaves the 110mm rear warhead to penetrate the armour. Total penetration capabilities are classified, but are known to be at least 550mm in rolled homogeneous armor.
Operators
*: Known as Panzerabwehrlenkwaffe PAL 2000 Bill
*
*: In service from 1999 to 2013, returned to service in December 2021
References
{{reflist
External links
Army Technology: BILL 2
Anti-tank guided missiles of Sweden