9K111 Fagot

The 9K111 Fagot (Russian: Фагот; "bassoon") is a second-generation tube-launched semi-automatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) wire-guided anti-tank missile system of the Soviet Union for use from ground or vehicle mounts. The 9K111 Fagot missile system was developed by the Tula KBP Design Bureau for Instrument Building. 9M111 is the designation for the missile. Its NATO reporting name is AT-4 Spigot.

9K111 Fagot
9K111 Fagot in Russian service
TypeAnti-tank weapon
Place of originSoviet Union
Service history
In service1970–present
Used bySee Operators
Wars
Production history
DesignerTula Machinery Design Bureau (Tula KBP)
Designed1962
Produced1970
VariantsSee Models
Specifications
Mass
  • 12.5 kg (28 lb) (missile weight)
  • 22.5 kg (50 lb) (9P135 launching post)[6]
Length1,100 mm (3 ft 7 in)
Diameter120 mm (4.7 in)
Action400 mm versus RHA or 200 mm toward armour inclined at 60°
Rate of fire3 rds / min
Muzzle velocity
  • 80 m/s (180 mph; 290 km/h) at launch
  • 186 m/s (420 mph; 670 km/h) in flight speed
Effective firing range70–2,500 m (230–8,200 ft)
WarheadHigh-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead
Warhead weight1.7 kg (3.7 lb)
Guidance
system
SACLOS wire-guided missile

Development

The 9K111 Fagot was developed by the Tula Machinery Design Bureau (Tula KBP) and development began in 1962 with the aim of producing the next generation of SACLOS anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) for use in two roles: as man portable and tank destroyer. The 9K111 Fagot was developed alongside the 9M113 Konkurs; both missiles use similar technology, differing in size only, and can use the same launchers. The missile entered service in 1970.

History

The anti-tank platoon of a Soviet BTR equipped motor rifle battalion had two (sometimes three)[7] ATGM squads, each with two 9K111 Fagot teams. The team consisted of three men; the gunner carries the 9P135 launcher and tripod as a back pack, and the other two men each carry two launch tubes. The men also carry assault rifles, but do not carry a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), because unlike the earlier missiles there is only a small deadzone within which the missile cannot engage the target. Besides the four missiles carried by each team, each squad would normally have an extra eight missiles carried in their transport, usually a BTR. It can also be deployed from the BMP-1P, BMD-1P, BTR-D and UAZ-469.

North Korea was said to have acquired a number of the systems during the late 1980s until the 2000s. These were subsequently reverse-engineered under the designation Bulsae-2.[8] It was advertised under designation AT-4MLB by North Korean proxy company GLOCOM, in brochure it was stated that it is controlled by laser beam guidance method,[9][10] which was an upgrade designated Bulsae-3.[11][12] Its use was first reported in 2014 in the ranks of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades and the Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades.[13]

Description
9K113 Konkurs missile system (launcher and missile) and a 9M111M Faktoriya missile in launch tube (standing)

The missile is stored and carried in a container/launch tube. It is fired from a 9P135 launcher post, a simple tripod. A 9S451 guidance box is fitted to the tripod with the missile sitting just above. The 9Sh119 sight is fitted to the left side (from the gunner's point of view). The complete launcher system weighs 22.5 kg (50 lb). The gunner lies prone while firing. The system can engage moving targets travelling at less than 60 km/h (37 mph). The launcher post can traverse through 360 degrees horizontally, and ±20 degrees in elevation. The sight has a magnification of 10× and a 5 degree field of view. Up to three missiles a minute can be fired from a launcher post.

The system uses a gas generator to push the missile out of the launch tube, which exits from the rear of the launch tube in a manner similar to a recoilless rifle. The missile leaves the launch tube at 80 m/s (180 mph; 290 km/h), and is then quickly accelerated to 186 m/s (420 mph; 670 km/h) by its solid fuel motor. This initial high speed reduces the missile's deadzone, since it can be launched directly at the target, rather than in an upward arc.

The launcher tracks the position of an incandescent infrared bulb on the back of the missile relative to the target and transmits appropriate commands to the missile via a thin wire that trails behind the missile. The SACLOS guidance system has many benefits over manual command to line of sight (MCLOS), with the accuracy of the system stated as 90% in some sources, though its performance is probably comparable to the TOW or the later SACLOS versions of the 9M14 Malyutka.

Models
Slovenian army soldiers using the Fagot missile launcher

Missile
  • 9M111 Fagot (NATO: AT-4 Spigot and AT-4A Spigot A) Entered service in 1970. Maximum range 2,000 m (6,600 ft; 1.2 mi), minimum 70 m (230 ft). Warhead 400 mm versus RHA or 200 mm toward armour inclined at 60°.[14]
  • 9M111-2 Fagot (NATO: AT-4B Spigot B) Slightly improved version.
  • 9M111M Faktoriya/Faktoria[15] (Trading post) or Fagot-M (NATO: AT-4C Spigot C) Improved motor, longer guidance wire. Maximum range 2,500 m (8,200 ft; 1.6 mi), minimum 75 m (246 ft). Improved single HEAT warhead; penetration 600 mm versus RHA or 230 mm toward armour inclined at 60°[14][16][17] (some publications claimed 9M111M to have tandem HEAT warhead).
[18] 9M111/AT-4A 9M111-2/AT-4B 9M111M/AT-4C
Launch tube weight 13 kg (29 lb) 13 kg (29 lb) 13.4 kg (30 lb)
Range 75–2,000 m 75–2,500 m 75–2,500 m
Warhead HEAT, 400 mm RHA penetration HEAT, 460 mm RHA penetration HEAT, 600 mm RHA penetration

Launcher
  • 9P135 22.5 kg (50 lb). Can only fire the 9M111 Fagot series.
  • 9P135M Can fire the 9M111 Fagot (NATO: AT-4 Spigot) series as well as the 9K113 Konkurs (NATO: AT-5 Spandrel) series missiles.
  • 9P135M1 Updated version of the 9P135.
  • 9P135M2 Updated version of the 9P135.
  • 9P135M3 Deployed in the early 1990s. Adds 13 kg (29 lb) TPVP thermal imaging night sight – range 2,500 m (8,200 ft; 1.6 mi) at night.
  • 9S451M2 A launcher with a night sight featuring an anti-dazzle system has been developed.

Operators
Map with 9K111 operators in blue and former operators in red

Current operators

Former operators

Non-state actors

See also

References
  1. "Aleksandr Antonovich Lyakhovskiy Working Paper pp" (PDF). Woodrow Wilson Center for Public Policy. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  2. Razoux, Pierre (3 November 2015). The Iran-Iraq War. ISBN 9780674088634. Archived from the original on 10 May 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  3. Ignacio Fuente Cobo; Fernando M. Mariño Menéndez (2006). El conflicto del Sahara occidental (PDF) (in Spanish). Ministerio de Defensa de España & Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. p. 117. ISBN 84-9781-253-0. Fuente & Mariño.
  4. "Записки с кавказской войны". Utro.ru. 20 August 2008. Archived from the original on 17 August 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  5. "Etat islamique: comment les djihadistes emploient les missiles antichars pour appuyer leurs offensives". France-Soir (in French). 4 May 2017. Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  6. "AT-5 SPANDREL Anti-Tank Guided Missile". fas.org. Federation of American Scientists (FAS). Archived from the original on 1 January 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  7. Owen, Garry. "MRB Anti-Tank Platoon (APC)". Red Guards Index. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  8. "North Korea Country Handbook: Marine Corps Intelligence Activity" (PDF). Fas.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  9. Berger, Andrea (14 July 2017). Target Markets: North Korea's Military Customers. ISBN 9781351713009.
  10. "Glocom is at It Again".
  11. Bulsae-2. Military-Today.com.
  12. The State of the North Korean Military. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 18 March 2020.
  13. "Oryx Blog on DPRK Arms Exports". Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  14. Maksim Sayenko. "Bronya »krylyatoy pyekhoty«" (Armour of "Winged infantry"). Tekhnika i Vooruzhenie no.02/2007, p. 39 (Russian)
  15. Binnie, Jeremy; Gibson, Neil (8 April 2016). "US arms shipment to Syrian rebels detailed". Jane's Defence Weekly. IHS. Archived from the original on 5 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  16. "ПТРК 9К111 "ФАГОТ"". Btvt.narod.ru. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  17. "Onlinedisk - ваше хранилище файлов". www.onlinedisk.ru. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  18. 9K111 Fagot Archived 2018-02-22 at the Wayback Machine - Weaponsystems.net
  19. International Institute for Strategic Studies (15 February 2023). The Military Balance 2023 (1st ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-1032508955.
  20. "Trade Registers". Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  21. Small Arms Survey (2012). "Blue Skies and Dark Clouds: Kazakhstan and Small Arms". Small Arms Survey 2012: Moving Targets. Cambridge University Press. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-521-19714-4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  22. "North Korea has upgraded old anti-tank missile with laser guided system called Bulsae-3". Archived from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  23. Stroea, Adrian (2008). 165 ani de existență a artileriei române moderne (PDF) (in Romanian). Bucharest. p. 220. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 August 2011.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  24. V. Hogg, Ian (1988). Jane's infantry weapons 1988-89 (14th ed.). London: Jane's Pub. Co. ISBN 978-0710608574.
  25. Institute for Strategic Studies (1989). The military balance, 1989-1990. London: Brassey's. ISBN 978-0080375694.
  26. Institute for Strategic Studies (4 March 2011). The military balance, 2011. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1857436068.
  27. "Pirat coraz bliżej". Archived from the original on 15 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  28. Jeffrey Lewis. "Oryx Blog on DPRK Arms Exports". Archived from the original on 29 December 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  29. "North Korea Says It Has a New Anti-Tank Missile". 29 February 2016. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  30. "Irak'ta hava savunma ve tanksavar füzeleri ele geçirildi". 10 May 2021.

Sources
  • Hull, A.W., Markov, D.R., Zaloga, S.J. (1999). Soviet/Russian Armor and Artillery Design Practices 1945 to Present. Darlington Productions. ISBN 1-892848-01-5.
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