Strix Swedish 120mm Mortar

The Pansarsprängvinggranat, M94, STRIX is a Swedish end phase-guided projectile fired from a 120mm mortar originally manufactured by Saab Bofors Dynamics. STRIX is fired like a conventional mortar round. The round contains an infrared imaging sensor that it uses to guide itself onto any tank or armored fighting vehicle in the vicinity where it lands. The seeker is designed to ignore targets that are already burning. Launched from any 120mm mortar, STRIX has a normal range of up to 4.5km. With the addition of a special sustainer motor, however, the range can be increased to 7.5km. The STRIX mortar round uses twelve midsection lateral thruster rockets to provide terminal course corrections. The tail unit is loaded first with the necessary propelling charges (up to eight increments), then the sustainer motor (if required), and finally, the programmed projectile. A hand-held programming unit is connected to the projectile by cable prior to loading to feed in flight time before seeker activation, and with allowances for terminal phase ballistic conditions. As well as being fired by conventional mortars, STRIX can be fired by the Advanced Mortar System, an automatic dual 120mm mortar mounted in a turret for fitting to armored fighting vehicles. Feasibility and project definition studies began in 1983, as a joint private venture between FFV Ordnance and Saab Missiles. The first fully guided flight took place in 1988.