Robot 08 (Rb 08) was an

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM or ASM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. ...

developed in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Saab Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab AB, a Swedish aircraft, aerospace and defence company, still known as SAAB, and together with subsidiaries as Saab Group ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab ...

during the early

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. It was the first operational ship-based anti-ship missile. The design was a development of the French

Nord Aviation CT20 The Nord Aviation CT20 was a French turbojet-powered radio-controlled target drone introduced in 1957. Developed from the Arsenal / S.F.E.C.M.A.S. T.5.510, the CT.20 was built by Nord Aviation and powered by a Turbomeca Marboré II engine, providi ...

target missile and was manufactured by Saab. The project to develop the weapon was initiated in the 1950s and the missile entered sea-going service in 1966 aboard the s, later also serving in a land-based coastal defense role with the

Swedish Coastal Artillery The Swedish Coastal Artillery () has its origin in the Archipelago Artillery that was raised in 1866. The Coastal Artillery was formed from the Archipelago Artillery, the Marine Regiment and parts of the Artillery in 1902. Kustartilleriet, abbr ...

. Guidance was via

radio command Command guidance is a type of missile guidance in which a ground station or aircraft relay signals to a guided missile via radio control or through a wire connecting the missile to the launcher and tell the missile where to steer to intercept ...

and

active radar homing Active radar homing (ARH) is a missile guidance method in which a missile contains a radar transceiver (in contrast to semi-active radar homing, which uses only a passive radar, receiver) and the electronics necessary for it to find and track it ...

. The missile was replaced by the

RBS-15 The RBS 15 (Robotsystem 15) is a long-range fire-and-forget surface-to-surface and air-to-surface anti-ship missile. The later version Mk. IV has the ability to attack land targets as well. The missile was developed by the Swedish company Saab ...

, being retired in 1995.

Development

The

Royal Swedish Naval Materiel Administration The Royal Swedish Naval Materiel Administration (, KMF) was the central board of the Swedish Navy in technical and economic terms. It was active between the years 1878 and 1968 when it was disbanded and amalgamated into the Defence Materiel Adm ...

experimented in the 1950s with the development of an anti-ship missile, with the project name M20. Disputes with the Air Force Materiel Administration over responsibility for missile development prolonged the development. Therefore, in 1962 the Naval Materiel Administration directed

to develop an anti-ship version of

Nord Aviation Nord-Aviation () was a state-owned French aircraft manufacturer. The bulk of its facilities were based on the site of Bourges airport, in the département of Cher, in central France. On 1 October 1954, Nord Aviation was created as a result of ...

's CT20 target missile. Saab worked with the French company on the development, with the missile, engine and some of the sensors developed in France and early flight tests taking place at a French launching ground in the Mediterranean Sea. Final production took place in the Nord Aviation factory of Méaulte (Somme) before components were sent to be reassembled in Sweden.

Design

The missile was long, with a diameter of . Wingspan was extended and folded. Height was . The missile was propelled by a

Turbomeca Marboré The Turbomeca Marboré is a small turbojet engine that was produced by Turbomeca from the 1950s into the 1970s. The most popular uses of this engine were in the Fouga CM.170 Magister and the Morane-Saulnier MS.760 Paris. It was also licensed f ...

IID jet engine and launched using a pair of rockets mounted on a launch sled, which added another to the weight. The rockets released when the missile was airborne, which took about 2 seconds. At takeoff, the missile's speed would be about , with a top speed of . The missile was guided by

and could be equipped with either cameras for scouting or an explosive warhead. The

system took control at about from the target, diving into a ship where a

contact fuze A contact fuze, impact fuze, percussion fuze or direct-action (D.A.) fuze (''UK'') is the fuze that is placed in the nose of a bomb or shell so that it will detonate on contact with a hard surface. Many impacts are unpredictable: they may involve ...

would detonate the High Explosive fragmentation warhead. Maximum range was about .

Service

The

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy () is the maritime service branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (), formally sometimes referred to as the Royal Navy () – as well as marine units, the Amph ...

ordered the missile in 1965 at a cost of 86 million kronor. After some test firing, the two s were equipped with the Rb 08 in 1966. It was the first operational ship-based anti-ship missile in the western world. The

organized a coastal missile battery in 1968 to operate the new weapon. A total of 98 missiles were built, production completing in 1970. A modernized version with a new seeker, Robot 08B, was planned, but did not come to fruition. Instead, the Rb 08 retired in 1995, replaced by the

, capable of both

surface-to-surface A surface-to-surface missile (SSM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea and strike targets on land or at sea. They may be fired from hand-held or vehicle mounted devices, from fixed installations, or from a ship. They ar ...

and

air-to-surface An air-to-surface missile (ASM) or air-to-ground missile (AGM) is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft at targets on land or sea. There are also unpowered guided glide bombs not considered missiles. The two most common pro ...

operation. Several Rb 08 are still preserved for display today.

References

External links

{{commons category, Robot 08 *https://weaponsystems.net/system/1212-Rb%2008 Rb 08 Rb 08 Surface-to-surface missiles of Sweden Military equipment introduced in the 1960s