Type 01 LMAT
Encyclopedia
The is a Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese man-portable fire-and-forget
Fire-and-forget
Fire-and-forget is a third-generation method of missile guidance. The military uses the term for a type of missile which does not require further guidance after launch such as illumination of the target or wire guidance , and can hit its target without the launcher being in line-of-sight of the...

 anti-tank 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....

. Development began in 1993 at Kawasaki Heavy Industries
Kawasaki Heavy Industries
is an international corporation based in Japan. It has headquarters in both Chūō-ku, Kobe and Minato, Tokyo.The company is named after its founder Shōzō Kawasaki and has no connection with the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa....

 and was accepted into service in 2001. During development, the missile was designated with the codename XATM-5. It was later known shortly as the ATM-5.

In the 1st Airborne Brigade
1st Airborne Brigade (Japan)
The , also known as the Narashino Airborne Brigade , is stationed in the Narashino Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces Base in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture. It is part of the Eastern Army in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force...

, it is used as its main anti-armor weapon.

History

As a replacement was needed for the Sumitomo FT-84
Carl Gustav recoilless rifle
The Carl Gustav is the common name for the 84 mm man-portable reusable multi-role recoilless rifle produced by Saab Bofors Dynamics in Sweden...

 recoilless rifle in front-line service with the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force
The , or JGSDF, is the army of Japan. The largest of the three services of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the Ground Self-Defense Force operates under the command of the chief of the ground staff, based in the city of Ichigaya, Tokyo. The present chief of ground staff is General Yoshifumi Hibako...

, plans to replace it with a Infrared homing
Infrared homing
Infrared homing refers to a passive missile guidance system which uses the emission from a target of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared part of the spectrum to track and follow it. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers", since infrared is just below the...

 anti-tank 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....

 was commissioned by the Defense Agency Technical Research and Development Institute. In 1993, Kawasaki Heavy Industries
Kawasaki Heavy Industries
is an international corporation based in Japan. It has headquarters in both Chūō-ku, Kobe and Minato, Tokyo.The company is named after its founder Shōzō Kawasaki and has no connection with the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa....

 was selected to create the said anti-tank 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....

 system. In trials conducted by the JGSDF
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force
The , or JGSDF, is the army of Japan. The largest of the three services of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the Ground Self-Defense Force operates under the command of the chief of the ground staff, based in the city of Ichigaya, Tokyo. The present chief of ground staff is General Yoshifumi Hibako...

, the system was known as the XATM-5. The system was created in the same year with live testing done in 1996.

Requirements for the system included portability, usage by a single soldier and design-to-cost technology. At the center of its creation was its heat-seeking technology.

In 2001, after 11 years, it was finally placed into service with the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force
The , or JGSDF, is the army of Japan. The largest of the three services of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the Ground Self-Defense Force operates under the command of the chief of the ground staff, based in the city of Ichigaya, Tokyo. The present chief of ground staff is General Yoshifumi Hibako...

 as the Type 01 LMAT which translates from Japanese to Type 01 light anti-tank guided missile. A report filed by the Ministry of Defense in 2005 called for acquisition of an unknown number of 01 LMAT missile systems among various military items purchased from Kawasaki Heavy Industries for 1,297 Yen.

Application

The Type 01 LMAT, while used for infantry in anti-tank roles, can be mounted on the Komatsu LAV
Komatsu LAV
The , first produced in 2002, is used exclusively by the Japanese Ground Self Defense Forces, and has seen use in the Iraq War. It is built by Komatsu Ltd...

for a mobile anti-tank platform.

External links

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