Armor: October 27, 1999

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The Czechs have agreed to allow the Italians to complete the Galileo fire control system for their T-72 upgrade. The Czechs had canceled the Galileo contract, saying that it was behind schedule and had not met its required performance standards, but agreed to resume the deal after the Italians made "many significant concessions".--Stephen V Cole

Matra is planning to develop a new heavy wire-guided anti-tank missile for the next century. It will have a diameter of 150mm and will carry a tandem shaped-charge warhead capable of direct or top-attack profiles. The missile will be designed for launch from a helicopter or ground vehicle. Matra is seeking a long-range for its missile, possibly as much as 8km. It will use a multi-mode targeting system, with a fiber-optic capable for gunner control (even to targets the launcher cannot see) and a separate nose-mounted seeker for the fire-and-forget mode. It may also be fitted with a laser-seeker.--Stephen V Cole