The Ingwe is a modern South African multi-role laser guided anti-tank guided missile

Anti-tank guided missile

An anti-tank missile , anti-tank guided missile , anti-tank guided weapon or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily-armored military vehicles....

 (ATGM) manufactured by Denel Dynamics (formerly Kentron).

The missile was designed to be employed in various roles, either by infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

or as a vehicle or helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

 mounted system for targets at ranges from 250 m to 5,000 m. It employs a tandem warhead to defeat up to 1,000 mm (40 in) of armour.

In 2005 the missile's on board software was upgraded to be able to detect the launch platform and download the latest software, all at launch time. This enables the use of a single missile across all launch platforms.http://www.denel.co.za/NewsArchive.asp#DENEL%20MODERNISES%20INGWE%20ANTI-ARMOUR%20MISSILE

Operational use

The weapon was first used on 10 September 1987 when a pre-production Ratel ZT3

Ratel IFV

The Ratel is the basic Infantry Fighting Vehicle of the South African National Defence Force's mechanized infantry battalions. Ratel is the Afrikaans name for the honey badger, which has a reputation as a ferocious fighter.-History:...

 destroyed several T-55

T-55

The T-54 and T-55 tanks were a series of main battle tanks designed in the Soviet Union. The first T-54 prototype appeared in March 1945, just before the end of the Second World War. The T-54 entered full production in 1947 and became the main tank for armored units of the Soviet Army, armies of...

 tanks at the Lomba River in Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

.