The Type 79 Jyu-MAT (79式対舟艇対戦車誘導弾, 79-shiki tai-shūtei tai-sensha yūdō-dan) is a Japanese SACLOS guided anti-tank missile that entered service with the JGSDF in 1984. It was initially issued to coastal defence units, intended to destroy troop and vehicle landing ships as they approached the shoreline. It is also known as KAM-9.[1]

Type 79 Jyu-MAT / 79 Tan-SSM
A Type 79 LMAT launcher on display.
TypeHeavy anti-tank/landing-craft guided missile
Place of originJapan
Service history
In service1984 to present
Used byJapan
Production history
DesignerDefense Agency Technical Research and Development Institute
ManufacturerKawasaki Heavy Industries
Produced1980 to present
Specifications
Mass33 kg missile
Length1.5 m
Diameter153 mm
Crew1
WarheadShaped charge on tanks/armored vehicles
Fragmentation charged warhead for landing vessels and ships.
Warhead weight4.2 kg
Detonation
mechanism
Impact or delayed impact

Maximum speed 200 m/s
Guidance
system
Wire guided SACLOS

Description

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The missile is stored in a cylindrical transport container. On launch the missile is ejected from the tube by a solid rocket motor. After traveling a safe distance from the operator, the Daicel flight motor ignites and takes the missile to its cruising speed of approximately 200 meters per second.[1]

The missile is a thin cylinder with two sets of four pop-up fins positioned along the body of the missile. The warhead is either a shaped charge for use against tanks, or a semi-armour piercing fragmentation type with a delayed-action fuze for use against landing vessels.

Operation

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The operator's position on the Type 79

The missile is steered in flight by command signals from the launcher transmitted over a guidance wire spooled out behind the missile. A xenon lamp on the rear of the missile allows the NEC manufactured launcher sight unit to compute an offset between the missile position and line of sight to the target, and calculate steering corrections based on this offset.

The Type 79 missile can be fired remotely, at a distance of up to fifty meters from the tripod mounted guidance system. It can be mounted on a Mitsubishi Type 73 jeep, similar to the Type 64 MAT and the Type 87 Chu-MAT. The Type 79 is also in use with the Mitsubishi Type 89 IFV.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Type 79 Jyu-MAT anti-tank missile system (Japan), Anti-tank weapons". Jane's. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved 2011-06-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
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