Some time ago I wrote to you and promised I would get some information on the Anti-Tank capability of the modern infantry battalion. I don't know whether this stuff will be of much interest to our members - I leave it to you to decide. The main Anti-Tank weapons of the British and Commonwealth Infantry at the moment are as follows 1. Wombat An air-transportable weapon capable of being dropped by parachute and man-handled across rough country by the crew of three. It may be mounted and fired from a long wheel base Landrover and has a range of between 25 and 1,000 yards. Believed to be capable of knocking out the heaviest armour in existence. 2. 3.5 Rocket Launcher This weapon is issued at Platoon level, has a range of 150 yards and at close range is believed to be capable of knocking out any known tank. This is due to b e replaced by either a Canadian 3. 2 Heller R. L. or the Swedish 84 mm. Carl Gustav R. L. Both these weapons have a range approximately three times greater than the 3.5 Rocket Launcher. 3. Vigilant Missile which is a wire guided weapon with a range of 1,500 yards capable of knocking out any known tank. This weapon on recent trials proved to be 96% reliable, and the average infantryman could obtain nine hits out of ten after only 72 hours instruction. The weapon has no flash or smoke and up to six missiles could be controlled by a single soldier. The missile and launcher can easily be carried by one man. The missile could be controlled from up to 70 yards away from the firing point. This weapon is also employed on ferret scout cars and it is being tried out from helicopters. As well as these infantry weapons, the following are also used by the R. A. C. and R. A. The Malkara Wireguided missile which is mounted on a hornet, which is an armoured adaptation of-the standard 1 ton Humber chassis. This is air transportable and capable of being dropped by parachute. It will knock out any tank and may be used against bridges and fortifications. It has a range of 2,500 yards and the accuracy is such that a hit may be obtained on a bunker slit at this range. As well as these there is also the new Chieftain tank, which is said to be the best in the world. The self-propelled 'Abbot' which will replace the 25 pounder as the standard R.A. gun and is capable of knocking out any tank at up to 1,500 yards. When you remember that each Infantry Brigade Group contains three battalions of infantry supported by one of armour, one of artillery, it will be readily realised that the infantry battalion is capable of giving a good account of itself against armour. In short, I don't think tanks would find it any easier to over-run infantry than Napoleon's cavalry found it easy to break the British square. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 28 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1964 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com