History: Robot System 70 was developed to supply the Swedish airdefense with a cheap, easy-to-use and effective shortrange SAM system. Before RBS 70 the mainstay of Swedish airdefense had been American HAWK systems, American Stingers (RBS 69) and the Swedish Bofors M/48 AAA. The main reason for choosing to base airdefense around a short-range, lowcost system was that at the time the doctrine of the Swedish Army was to fight a long-time guerrilla war where mobility and low maitenance was of great importance.
Current status: RBS 70 is a short-range man-portable (MANPADS), laser-guided missile system. The operator (skytt) receives instructions on the position of the target from a local SLT (combat-control terminal) which is about the size of a laptop. The SLT in turn receives information through a encoded radio-broadcast made by either a radar station (PS 90, PS 70) or some other information gathering source. When the target has been acquired by the operator he turns of the safety which sends out an IFF signal, which if positive makes firing impossible, and switches on the main laser. If the operator is confident that he has a good track he fires. The missile then flies in the beam of the laser from the sight, adjusting it's position constantly to stay within the beam. This puts a lot of pressure on the operator who needs to have a very steady aim. If the missile is guided to within 30 meters of the target a kill is 95 % assured. RB 70 has been constantly updated and improved, the first versions (Mk 0) had a short range and limited kill capabilities but this was much improved in later versions. Mk 1 and Mk 2 followed shortly and are the standard RB 70 with a range of 5000-6000m and a height ceiling of 3000 m. RBS 70 is a product of Bofors and is operational in 13 customer countries, on all continents and in arctic, desert as well as tropical environments.
Technical Data:
Guidenance: Laserbeam
Weight: 24kg
Length: 1070mm
Wingspan: 106mm
Speed: Mach 1
Sources: bofors.se, LvR RBS 70