Introduction

The HOT is a late Cold War era anti-tank missile of French/German origin. It was developed in the early and mid 1970's to replace the SS.11 missile. The name HOT stands for "Haut subsonique, Optiquement téléguidé, Tiré d'un tube", this translates to "high subsonic, optically guided, tube launched". The performance is comparable to the American TOW missile and Soviet Konkurs (AT-5) missile.

Design

The HOT missile is a wire guided anti-tank missile that is similar in general layout to the contemporary American TOW, Soviet Konkurs and British Swingfire. The HOT has a shaped HEAT warhead in the nose which is followed by a guidance section and solid fuel rocket with booster section for inititial velocity. The missile is carried in a launch canister and the four wings at the rear of the missile are folded within the tube. The HOT uses SACLOS guidance with a 4.3 km command wire extending from the missile.

Firepower

The HOT is a powerful anti-tank missile with good penetration characteristics. The HOT-1 HEAT warhead penetrates 800 mm RHA, the HOT-2 does 900 mm and the tandem HEAT warhead on the HOT-3 penetrates 1.250 mm behind ERA. It is also effective against bunkers and light vehicles, but of limited use against infantry in the open. The maximum range is 4 km and the flight speed is about 850 km/h. The SACLOS guidance results in good accuracy, even against moving targets.

Launch platforms

The HOT is used on a wide range of vehicles and helicopters. The HOT was first employed on dedicated anti-tank vehicles such as the German Jaguar and French VAB-VCAC with Mephisto turret. Turrets such as the Mephisto, UTM-800 and Lancelot have been mounted on various wheeled and tracked vehicles. The HOT is commonly used on the French Gazelle helicopter which can carry up to four missiles and has a stabilized roof sight. The BO-105, Tiger and Rooivalk are also able to carry and launch the HOT. A large and cumbersome manpack installation has also been developed

Users

The HOT was initially adopted by France and Germany and was exported to a wide range of European, Middle Eastern and African nations. In modern armies the HOT is gradually being replaced by newer and more capable designs, but it remains in widespread use in many other areas of the world.

The HOT missile is also widely used as helicopter armament. Early launchers are stub wings with 2 or 3 HOT missiles each. These are often used on the French Gazelle and German BO-105. Later a four round box launcher was introduced for use on the Dauphin and Tiger helicopters.

Target acquisition requires the use of the APX 397 day sight, Viviane day and night sight or the OSIRIS mast-mounted sight as used on the Tiger.