9K111 Fagot and 9K111-2 Fagot-M antitank weapon systems

A 9M111M Fagot-M ATGM being fired from the BMD-1P airborne ICV.

The 9K111 Fagot and 9K111-2 Fagot-M man-portable batallion-level ATGM systems appeared in the 1970s as the first Russian tube-launched ATGM weapon systems and were designed by the KBP (Instrument-Making Design Bureau) based in Tula as a replacement for the older Malyutka ATGM systems in the AT platoons of the BTR-equipped motorized rifle battalions as well as for those mounted on the BMP-1 and BMD-1 infantry combat vehicles (the modified vehicles were designated BMP-1P and BMD-1P).
The ATGM platoons of the mechanized infantry battalions and airborne infantry brigades have 6 three-man firing teams armed with these ATGM systems. The operator carries the folded 9P135 firing post as a backpack, and each of the assistant operators carries two missiles in containers as a backpack. Unlike the ATGM teams equipped with the older Malyutka ATGM systems, these teams do not carry a RPG-7 shoulder-fired AT rocket launcher because the Fagot does not have the 500 m. deadspace of the Malyutka. The Fagot ATGM systems are to be replaced by the Metis ATGM systems.
The Fagot ATGMs can also be fired from the BMP-2, BMD-2 and BMD-3 infantry combat vehicles and from the 9P148 BRDM-2 tank destroyers.

A 9K111 Fagot ATGM system manned by a three-man crew in action.
Notice the earlier 9S451 guidance system with the 9Sh119M sight.

9K111 Fagot (AT-4 Spigot A)

The 9K111 Fagot (AT-4 Spigot A) uses the tube-launched 9M111 SACLOS, wire-guided ATGM. The 9M111 missile is stored and carried in a container, which also serves as a launch tube. It has a minimum range of 70 m. and a maximum of 2000 m. and it has a unitary HEAT warhead which can penetrate 400 mm. of steel armor. The missile can engage moving targets efficiently only if their speed is below 60 km./h. and its use is allowed in heights up to 3000 m. above the sea level. When the missile is fired, the gas generator blows it forward out of the tube with a speed of 80 m./s. and, after it has traveled a safe distance from the firing post, the fuze is activated and the missile's own sustained motor powers it on the flight to the target for 11 seconds with a flight speed of 186 m./s. The wire for the missile guidance is located in the container's blow-out lid which opens on the lower left side when the missile is fired.

Technical characteristics for the 9K111 Fagot ATGM system:

The 9K111-2 Fagot-M ATGM system.
Notice the later 9S451M guidance unit with the 9Sh119M1 sight.

9K111-2 Fagot-M (AT-4 Spigot B)

The 9K111-2 Fagot-M (AT-4 Spigot B) uses the 9M111M ATGM with an improved sustained motor which increases the maximum range to 2500 m. and an improved warhead which can penetrate 460 mm. of steel armor. The 9K111-2 ATGM system uses the same 9P135 firing post as the older 9K111 system.

The 9M111M Fagot-M ATGM and its container/launch tube.

Technical characteristics for the 9K111-2 Fagot-M ATGM system:

The 9P135 firing post.

The 9P135 firing post

The 9P135 firing post for ground-launched employment is consisted of a tripod-mounted 9P56 launcher with the 9S451M guidance unit and the firing mechanism attached to it.

The 9P56 launcher.

The 9P56 launcher is designed to hold the guidance unit and the missile container. The missile container is loaded on the 9P56 launcher by sliding it on the support rail from the rear until the mechanical catch and the electrical contacts engage. The 9S451M guidance unit is mechanically attached to the rail of the launch tube and moves together with it. A locking lever allows it to be released and rotated into the folded position for transport.

The 9S451M guidance unit.

The 9S451M guidance unit is comprised from the 9Sh119M1 monocular periscopic sight and the 9S474 missile tracker unit. The missile tracker unit measures the deviation between the missile and the opeartor's line-of-sight by an IR tracking apparatus that tracks the IR source located in the tail of the missile and then generates guidance commands which are then transmited to the missile's guidance unit by a wire, causing it to eliminate the deviation. The tracking unit is very simple and inexpensive and it has an extremly narrow field of view which makes it very difficult to decoy, since the decoy source has to be in inside its field of view.

The 9Sh119M1 monocular optical sight has a x10 magnification and a field of view of 5° and is used together with the 9S469 or 9S469M indicator of IR interferences, which is carried by the gunner. When there is an IR interference in the sight's field of view, an electrical diode reflects a red blinking light in the dark section of the sight just below the crosshairs. The sight has two optical channels with a constant or variable diaphragm. The field of view for channel No.1 with the variable diphragm is 2,5° and it is marked with the big circle in the crosshairs of the sight. Channel No.2 with the constant diphragm has a field of view of 30' which is marked by the middle circle, or 6' with the variable diphragm marked by the small circle. The small circle is used to set the line-of-sight of the firing post before launching the missile and it can also be used to guide it if the target is less then 500 m. away.

A view of the sighting reticle.

The 9S451 guidance units, which were produced before 1979, had optical sights with a small circle's field of view (that is, of the optical channel No.2 with the variable diphragm) of 10'.

The firing mechanism.

The firing mechanism is attached on the left side of the 9S474 missile tracker. When the operator pulls the trigger, the inductor generates electrical impulses which activate the electrical charges of the launch tube's second battery, the missile's battery and the gyroscopic coordinator's rotor in the guidance unit of the missile.

A section of the 9M111M Fagot-M ATGM and its container.

Thanks to the SACLOS guidance, the 9K111 Fagot and 9K111-2 Fagot-M ATGM systems have an increased accuracy and reduced training requirements for their operators over the previous 9K11 Malyutka system with MCLOS gudance because the operator no longer needs to track the target and the missile at the same time, but to keep the sight fixed on the target.

Technical characteristics for the 9P135 firing post:

The TRAKT (1PN65) and MULAT (1PN86) thermal sights

The NPO GIPO (Research and Production Association-State Institute of Applied Optics), one of Russia's leading enterprises for designing optronic systems for the Russian armed forces, has produced the TRAKT (1PN65) and MULAT (1PN86) thermal sight for these ATGM systems. They are fitted without any modifications to the firing post, and the MULAT thermal sight can also be used as an observation and surveilance device. When they are not in use, they are stored in a shockproof protective casings.

Technical characteristics for the MULAT (1PN86) thermal sight:

Remarks

The 9K111 Fagot and 9K111-2 Fagot-M ATGM systems are also manufactured by many other countries from the former Warsaw Pact and mounted on their own vehicles. A good example is Bulgaria which produces these ATGM systems and also mounts them on their own BMP-30 ICV which is based on the chassis of the 2S1 Gvozdika 122 mm. self-propelled artillery system and has a turret from the BMP-2.