Anti-tank missile system MILAN: optronic sensors for the new generation firing post MILAN ADT/ER

The European anti-tank missile system MILAN has found wide-spread use in numerous countries. Introduced in 1974 it has since undergone several technological upgrades. We report here on the newly developed firing post MILAN ADT ("Advanced Technology") which improves the MILAN system performance substantially while maintaining all operational features to which MILAN operators are accustomed. An even further advanced version of this firing post is now under development in the frame of a range extension of the missile system dubbed MILAN ADT/ER. Being a command-to-line-of-sight system, the new MILAN ADT firing post is equipped with a missile tracking sensor which captures the missile's signature with a wide field-of-view optics and a large CMOS detector covering both gathering and guidance phase. Using adaptive windowing and sub-sampling functions combined with differential imaging modes this sensor tracks the signatures of all MILAN missile types with optimum precision, high resistance against IRCM, and improved signal-to-noise ratio over the entire flight path. An integrated thermal imager replaces the earlier ancillary TIs, MIRA and MILIS. The TI image is displayed on an internal micromonitor and projected into the eyepiece. Optimum axis harmonization between both missile tracking and sighting channels is ensured by projection of reference marks into each optical sensor path from an integrated multispectral projector. An extended range version will also be offered which takes advantage of the missile tracking sensor's enhanced responsivity and the oustanding precision of axis alignment. An integrated color TV sensor is substituted for the bulky direct view telescope, and both TI-/TV-sensor will provide two fields-of-view on the internal micromonitor for surveillance and target identification, respectively.