The German Army infantry will soon receive a new generation of anti-tank light weapons, namely the Enforcer produced by MBDA Deutschland. The Enforcer is also designed as a compact anti-surface (anti-fortification) missile with a compact design and is easy to launch from a soldier's shoulder.
Quoted from EDR On-Line – .edrmagazine.eu (10/31/2023), the Enforcer is said to be one of the few (anti-tank) missiles that is launched from the shoulder, because most use a bipod or tripod. Regarding the ergonomic aspect, the weight of the Enforcer when launched was said to be less than 7 kg and the length was less than 1 meter.
The Enforcer carries a multi-effect warhead developed by TDW, a subsidiary of MBDA based in Schrobenhausen, Germany. The Enforcer can launch a distance of more than 2,000 meters, while the requirement put forward by the German armed forces (Bundeswehr) is 1,800 meters.
The Enforcer warhead is equipped with an explosively-formed penetrator (EFP) element, namely to deal with light armored vehicles, the forward fragmentation effect and the side fragmentation effect are provided by the warhead structure.
The mode is selected by the operator before launch according to the type of target, the fuse mode depends on the effect, three modes are available, detonation point, delay or time to airburst effect (airburst).
The Enforcer, in the version available and soon to be delivered to the Bundeswehr, is not an anti-tank weapon. With a 90 mm caliber warhead (the actual diameter of the missile is 89 mm) it is designed for other types of targets. The operator can also select the sensor that will lock on to the target and direct the missile towards it, two options are available – infra-red imaging and TV.
After selecting the desired effect, the shooter places the crosshair on the target, selects the sensor to be used, locks the missile and presses the trigger. Then the Enforcer can launch in a fire and forget pattern.
The seeker system connects the target image with the one obtained initially. The contrast correlation tracker has a refresh rate of 25 frames per second, so even if the light changes or the target moves in different conditions, the tracker continues to guide the Enforcer missile towards the desired target. Initial deliveries of the Enforcer series version to the Bundeswehr are planned for 2024.
Will be developed into an anti-tank missile
Enforcer development is far from complete. There is a variant called the Enforcer-X, but it is still a concept. Enforcer-X is an anti-tank missile variant that will be launched after receiving a customer launch.
The Enforcer-X displays maximum similarity to the standard Enforcer missile, the main exception being the warhead, the TDW provides a tandem warhead designed to penetrate tank armor behind ERA (Explosive Reactive Armor).
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Due to the type of warhead, airburst mode will not be present, another main feature is the availability of two attack modes, with a direct trajectory or a lofted one, the latter allows the missile to attack targets from above the Main Battle Tank, which is known as the weak point on some MBTs.