The is a Japanese man-portable

fire-and-forget Fire-and-forget is a type of missile guidance which does not require further external intervention 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 tar ...

anti-tank missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a missile guidance, guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy armoured fighting vehicle, heavily armored military v ...

. Development began in 1993 at

Kawasaki Heavy Industries is a Japanese Public company, public multinational corporation manufacturer of motorcycles, engines, Heavy equipment (construction), heavy equipment, aerospace and Military, defense equipment, rolling stock and ships, headquartered in Minato, To ...

and was accepted into service in 2001. During development, the missile was designated with the codename XATM-5. Later it was known briefly as the ATM-5. In the 1st Airborne Brigade, it is used as its main anti-armor weapon.

History

As a replacement was needed for the Sumitomo FT-84 recoilless rifle in front-line service with the

Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces The , , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service branches. New military guidelines, announced in December 2010, direct t ...

, plans to replace it with an

Infrared homing Infrared homing is a Missile guidance#Passive homing, passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "he ...

was commissioned by the Defense Agency's ''Technical Research and Development Institute''. In 1993,

was selected to create the said

system. In trials conducted by the JGSDF, the system was known as the XATM-5. The system was created in the same year with live testing in 1996. Requirements for the system included portability, usage by a single soldier and design-to-cost technology. In 2001, after 11 years, it was finally placed into service with the

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 129,700,000,000 Yen.

Design

This weapon employs a sophisticated Command Launch Unit (CLU) that is re-loaded for multiple firings. It is not of the disposable (one-shot) type. The LMAT's missile warhead is tandem HEAT, its two-stage warhead making it effective against

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

protected vehicles.

Application

The Type 01 LMAT, while used for infantry in anti-tank roles, can be mounted on the Komatsu LAV for a mobile anti-tank platform.

Operators

*: 1073 Sets (2010)

Similar weapons

* * * * * * *

References

Notes

* ''Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary'', Kenkyusha Limited, Tokyo 1991,

External links

Official JGSDF Page

Type 01 LAMAT vs FGM-48 JAVELIN high quality video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Type 01 Lmat Post–Cold War anti-tank missiles of Japan Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Military equipment introduced in the 2000s Fire-and-forget weapons Kawasaki Heavy Industries