Saab launches new Carl-Gustaf anti-tank round

Saab has launched its new anti-tank ammunition round for the Carl-Gustaf weapon during a live firing customer demonstration in May at Karlskoga, Sweden. 

The new round, designated HEAT 758, has been designed to defeat heavy armoured vehicles equipped with Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA). Vehicles protected by ERA are increasingly more common on the battlefield. HEAT 758 features a tandem warhead; the initial charge neutralises the ERA installed on the outside of the armoured vehicle, allowing the main charge to then successfully penetrate the main armour. The main charge can defeat up to 700mm of armour, enough to defeat the heaviest armoured vehicles. 

An undisclosed Carl-Gustaf customer has ordered HEAT 758 and production is underway.

“This round is our response of developments of the battlefield where reactive explosive armour has become a major problem for regular munitions trying to defeat armoured vehicles. HEAT 758 is an example of how Saab continues to generate ever more capable products while decreasing the armoured vehicle threat to the operator,” says Michael Höglund, head of Saab’s business unit Ground Combat.

HEAT 758 uses Saab’s Firebolt technology, meaning it can communicate with the Carl-Gustaf M4 weapon in which it is loaded and with the Fire Control Device 558 used to aim the M4, thereby simplifying the workload on the gunner while increasing first-round hit probability.       

photo courtesy Saab