Saab has launched a new anti-tank round for the Carl-Gustaf recoilless weapon system, unveiled during a live firing demonstration at Karlskoga, Sweden, in May.
The new round, designated HEAT 758, has been designed specifically to defeat heavily armoured vehicles fitted with Explosive Reactive Armour, a protection system that has become increasingly prevalent on modern battlefields. ERA works by detonating outward when struck, disrupting or deflecting an incoming warhead before it can penetrate the vehicle’s primary armour.
To counter this, HEAT 758 uses a tandem warhead configuration, in which a precursor charge detonates the ERA layer first, clearing the way for the main charge to strike the underlying armour. According to Saab, the main charge is capable of defeating up to 700mm of rolled homogeneous armour equivalent.
An undisclosed customer has already placed an order and production is underway.
Michael Höglund, head of Saab’s Ground Combat business unit, described the round as a direct response to battlefield trends. “This round is our response to 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,” he said, as quoted in the press release.
HEAT 758 incorporates Saab’s Firebolt technology, which enables the round to communicate digitally with both the Carl-Gustaf M4 launcher and the Fire Control Device 558 used for aiming. That integration is intended to reduce the workload on the gunner and improve the probability of a first-round hit.
The Carl-Gustaf has been in service since the late 1940s and remains one of the most widely used man-portable weapon systems in the world, fielded by dozens of militaries across multiple continents.
