View source for Top-attack

{{Short description|Top-attack is a weapon employment or targeting method, usually used against armoured vehicles.}}

A '''top attack''' weapon is designed to attack [[Armoured fighting vehicle|armored vehicle]]s from above, to take advantage of the fact that the [[armour]] is usually thinnest on the top of an armoured vehicle. The device may be delivered as a smart [[submunition]] or a primary munition by an [[anti-tank guided missile|anti-tank guided missile (ATGM)]], [[mortar (weapon)|mortar bomb]], [[artillery]] [[shell (projectile)|shell]], or even an emplaced [[munition]] such as a mine. Top attack munitions use either a [[shaped charge]] warhead (often now tandem warheads in order to defeat [[Reactive armour|ERA]]), or an [[explosively formed penetrator]] (EFP) warhead fired while over the target (usually by submunition).

The top attack concept was first put into service by the [[Swedish Armed Forces]] in 1988 with the Bofors [[RBS 56 BILL]] top-attack anti-tank missile.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.robotmuseum.se/ROBOT/Robothistorik/11_Pansar/ARM_rb_56.htm |title=RBS 56 BILL |website=robotmuseum.se |language=sv |accessdate=February 26, 2022}}</ref>
[[File:UA soldiers NLAW training 03.jpg|thumb|[[Ukrainian army]] soldiers fire the [[NLAW]] in training.]]
Another method of top attack is the ''overfly top-attack'' (OTA or OFTA) where a missile with a vertically oriented shaped charge jet that fires downwards. A missile is directed to overfly the vehicle where a sensor detects the vehicle, and detonates the shape charge down into the top of the vehicle. This is system employed with the [[NLAW]] man-portable ATGM.
__TOC__
== Weapon systems using top attack ==
[[File:An Australian soldier carrying two Javelin missiles to a firing point at the Besmaya Range Complex, Iraq, in October 2016.jpg|right|thumb|An [[Australian Army]] soldier carrying two [[FGM-148 Javelin]]s at the [[Besmaya Range Complex]] in [[Iraq]], October 2016]]
[[File:Hires 090509-A-4842R-001a.jpg|thumb|right|An M41 tripod-mounted TOW ITAS-FTL with PADS (a variant of the [[BGM-71 TOW]]) of the U.S. Army in [[Kunar Province]], Afghanistan, May 2009]]
[[File:Smart155 phase6.svg|thumb|The firing phase of a SMArt 155 submunition. The submunition is held aloft by a parachute, while the submunition seeks a target and fires]]
Notable weapon systems that utilize top attack include:
<!--
-- entries must have their own Wikipedia article (or be a variant thereof) to be considered "notable"
-->
{| class="wikitable sortable"<!--please place entries alphabetically by Weapon system name-->
|-
! Weapon system
!Type|| Country of origin
|-
| [[AGM-114 Hellfire]]
|air-to-ground [[ATGM]]|| {{United States}}
|-
| [[AT-1K Raybolt]]
|man-portable [[ATGM]]|| {{KOR}}
|-
| [[BGM-71 TOW|BGM-71F/TOW-2B]]
|[[ATGM]]|| {{United States}}
|-
|[[Bofors/Nexter Bonus]]
|[[artillery]] shell submunition
|{{SWE}} /
{{FRA}}
|-
| [[BLU-108]]
|[[aerial bomb]]|| {{United States}}
|-
| [[CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon]]
|aerial [[Cluster bomb]]|| {{United States}}
|-
| [[FGM-148 Javelin]]
|man-portable [[ATGM]]|| {{United States}}
|-
| [[Griffin LGB]]
|[[Laser-guided bomb]] (kit)|| {{ISR}}
|-
| [[HJ-12]]
|[[ATGM]]|| {{China}}
|-
| [[Kitolov-2M]]
|[[Mortar (weapon)|Mortar]] & [[Artillery]]|| {{flag|Russian Federation}}
|-
| [[KM-8 Gran]]
|[[Mortar (weapon)|mortar]]|| {{flag|Russian Federation}}
|-
| [[Krasnopol (weapon system)|Krasnopol]]
|[[artillery]]|| {{flag|Soviet Union}} /
{{flag|Russian Federation}}
|-
| [[KSTAM]]
|[[Cannon-launched guided projectile|gun-launched guided projectile]]|| {{KOR}}
|-
|[[LAHAT]]
|[[Semi-active laser homing|semi-active laser]] [[ATGM]]
|{{ISR}}
|-
| [[M93 Hornet mine]]
|[[Anti-tank mine|anti-vehicle wide-area mine]]|| {{United States}}
|-
| [[Mokopa]]
|air-to-ground [[anti-tank guided missile]]|| {{Flag|South Africa}}
|-
| [[MPATGM]]
|man-portable [[ATGM]]|| {{Flag|India}}
|-
| [[Nag (missile)|Nag]]
|[[ATGM]]|| {{Flag|India}}
|-
|[[NLAW]]
|overfly top-attack [[ATGM]]
|{{SWE}} /
{{GBR}}
|-
| [[OMTAS]]
|man-portable [[ATGM]]|| {{Flag|Turkey}}
|-
| [[PARS 3 LR]]
|air-to-ground [[ATGM]]||{{GER}} /
{{FRA}}
|-
| [[RBS 56 BILL]] / [[RBS 56B BILL 2]]
|man-portable [[ATGM]]|| {{SWE}}
|-
| [[Sense and Destroy ARMor|SADARM]]
|submunition|| {{United States}}
|-
| [[SMArt 155]]
|[[artillery]] shell submunition|| {{GER}}
|-
| [[Spike (missile)|Spike]]
|[[ATGM]]|| {{ISR}}
|-
| [[Strix mortar round]]
|guided mortar bomb|| {{SWE}}
|-
| [[Toophan#Variants|Toophan 3M]]{{Efn-lr|content=The Toophan is a reverse engineered clone of the BGM-71 TOW|name=toophan-tow}}
|SACLOS ATGM|| {{Flag|Iran}}
|-
| [[Type 01 LMAT]]
|man-portable [[ATGM]]|| {{JPN}}
|-
| [[XM395 Precision Guided Mortar Munition]]
|guided mortar bomb|| {{United States}}
|}
{{Notelist-lr}}

== See also ==

* [[Plunging fire]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Anti-tank weapons]]