Soft launching is the method of launching a missile (such as an

anti-tank guided missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, 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 ...

) in such a way that the

rocket motor A rocket engine uses stored rocket propellants as the reaction mass for forming a high-speed propulsive jet of fluid, usually high-temperature gas. Rocket engines are reaction engines, producing thrust by ejecting mass rearward, in accordan ...

ignites outside of the launch tube; the missile is ejected non-explosively. The objective is to minimize the risk of damage to the launcher by maintaining a safe distance. This is in contrast with

hard launch Hard launching is a launch system of a guided missile, where the missile's rocket engine is ignited while still inside the launch assembly or tube. This is technically simpler than soft launching but produces a large backblast area The backblas ...

ing, where the missile's rocket engine is ignited while still inside the launch assembly or tube, which generates a backblast area. A similar concept called cold launch was pioneered by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

for application in vertical launch system clusters on board ships.

Examples

FGM-148 Javelin The FGM-148 Javelin, or Advanced Anti-Tank Weapon System-Medium (AAWS-M), is an American-made portable anti-tank missile system in service since 1996, and continuously upgraded. It replaced the M47 Dragon anti-tank missile in US service. Its fire- ...

anti-tank guided missile *

Spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...

anti-tank missile *

HJ-12 The Hongjian-12 () is a third generation, man-portable, fire-and-forget infrared homing anti-tank missile of China. It was unveiled at the Eurosatory 2014 exhibition. History The missile was first showcased on the Eurosatory 2014 exhibition. S ...

anti-tank missile

References

Missile launchers Missile operation {{missile-stub