Type 87 Chu-MAT

Type 87 Chu-MAT
The Type 87 launcher and laser designator on a single tripod.
Type	Laser guided anti-tank missile
Place of origin	Japan
Service history
In service	1989 - present
Used by	Japan
Production history
Designer	Defense Agency Technical Research and Development Institute
Designed	Late 1970s
Manufacturer	Kawasaki Heavy Industries[1] Mitsubishi Motors
Produced	1987 to present
Specifications
Weight	Missile 12 kg System 140 kg[2]
Length	1 m
Crew	3
Caliber	Between 110 and 120 mm[3]
Effective range	2,000 m
Sights	Laser assisted sights
Guidance system	Laser

The launcher unit of the Type 87.

The Type 87 Chū-MAT (87式対戦車誘導弾 87-shiki tai-sensha yūdō-dan^?) Chū-MAT is a Japanese laser guided anti-tank missile in service with the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces. It had been created as a front-line replace for the Type 64 MAT, pressed into service with the Type 79 Jyu-MAT.

History

Development of the system began in 1976, missile trials were conducted in 1982, with a complete prototype system delivered in 1985.^[4] The first units entering service with the JGSDF in 1989.^[4] The system consists of a launcher, and laser designator mounted on a heavy tripod.
As of 2007, a project had been conducted by the Ministry of Defense Technical Research and Developmental Institute for testing on a new Anti-tank missile platform that would eventually replace the Type 87 in front-line service. As of now, the project's code name is known in the JSDF as the Shin Chu-MAT.^[5]

Description

The unit is situated on a tripod unit with the missile launcher and laser designator on it. The designator and launcher can be separated from each other by up to 200 meters, or can be mounted together on the same tripod, although Jane's notes that the exhaust gas from the missile may interrupt the designator laser.^[3]
Like the Type 64 MAT and the Type 79 Jyu-MAT, it can be mounted onto a Mitsubishi Type 73 jeep or the Komatsu LAV for anti-armor roles.

See also

• Type 64 MAT
• Type 79 Jyu-MAT
• Type 01 LMAT

References

1. ^ Type-87 Chu-MAT anti-tank missile. Retrieved on April 13, 2008.
2. ^ Designator, launcher and six missiles
3. ^ ^{a b} Jane's Infantry Weapons 2005-2006.
4. ^ ^{a b} "Type 87 Chu-MAT anti-tank missile system (Japan), Anti-tank weapons". Jane's. Retrieved 2011-06-08.
5. ^ Japanese Military Aircraft Designations (after 1945). Retrieved on November 26, 2007.

• Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary, Kenkyusha Limited, Tokyo 1991, ISBN 4-7674-2015-6