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The Franco-German MILAN anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system has been spotted for the first time ever with Ukrainian government forces.
On April 13, the CNN aired a report showing a group of US mercenaries and Ukrainian troops training on the anti-tank system in an unspecified part of Ukraine.
The MILAN system, which first entered service in 1972, utilizes a semi-automatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) guidance system. The system’s original missile had a range of up to 2,000 meters only.
The MILAN 2 variant, which entered service with the French, German and British armies in 1984, is armed with an improved HEAT [high-explosive anti-tank] warhead. The MILAN 3 entered service with the French army in 1995 and features a new-generation localizer that makes the system more difficult to jam electronically.
The system’s range was improved in a later version, the MILAN ER, which can engage targets as far as 3,000 meters away.
MILAN ATGM in #Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/4Hgbc2ninC
— Historical Firearms | Matthew Moss (@historicfirearm) April 13, 2022
In the early days of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, France provided Ukrainian government forces with a “few dozen” MILAN systems from the stocks of the French army. France was not however the only one to provide MILAN missiles to Ukraine. Italy officially delivered a shipment of an improved version of the system, known as the MILAN 2T, to Ukraine early on in the war.
The effectiveness of the MILAN system remains limited by its short range and guidance system, which is vulnerability to infrared jammers like the Russian Shtora system.
NATO states have been pumping weapons from their old stockpiles into Ukraine on the hope of foiling the Russian special military operation. These attempts will only prolong the war, worsen the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and make a political solution more difficult.
