9M113 Konkurs Vietnam Anti-Tank Missile First Appeared

28 Juni 2020

Konkurs 9M113 anti-tank missiles mounted on 9P135M launchers (photo : chinhphu)

The world defense magazines all said that Vietnam has 9M113 anti-tank missiles Konkurs (AT-5 Spandrel) in service.

The Government electronic newspaper said that, on the morning of June 23, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc - Chairman of the Central Emulation and Commendation Council attended the Emulation and Victory Competition. X.

The images recorded at the Military and Defense Achievement Exhibition to welcome the Tenth Military Competitive Victory Contest appeared a remarkable weapon, the Konkurs 9M113 anti-tank missile.

9M113 Konkurs (NATO designation AT-5 Spandrel) is a combination of semi-automatic wire-controlled anti-tank missiles (SACLOS) manufactured by the Soviet Union, 9M113 is a designation of the General Department of Artillery - Soviet rocket (GRAU).

9M113 Konkurs (NATO designation AT-5 Spandrel) of the Russian Army (photo : wiki)

Tested in 1962 and officially put into service by the Soviet Army in 1974. Initially, the designers calculated to install AT-5 on armored vehicles such as BMP-2, BRDM -2, but then the rocket also uses improved 9P135M launchers of AT-4 to be carried.

At the time of its debut, AT-5 was considered to be comparable with other French and Italian anti-tank missiles like HOT or MILAN but much more compact and versatile. 

Later when the tank's passive defense system was enhanced with explosive reactive armor, the AT-5 had an improved version of the AT-5B Konkurs-M with a tandem serial double-deck explosive. Konkurs-M missiles are still used in the Russian Army.

Basic specifications of the Konkurs 9M113 anti-tank missile include: a length of 1.15 m; diameter of 0,135 m; wingspan: 0.468 m; weight 14.6 kg; warhead: 2.7 kg HEAT; range: 0.07 - 4.0 km; 600 mm penetration force uniform armor.

There is no information on when 9M113 Konkurs appeared in Vietnam at what time and the picture of it is very few.

(BaoDatViet)