Bantam (missile)

Robot 53 Bantam

The Bantam (Bofors ANti-TAnk Missile) or Robot 53 (Rb 53) was a Swedish wire-guided, manual command to line of sight, anti-tank missile developed in the late 1950s by Bofors. It served with the Swedish and Swiss armies from 1963 and 1967 respectively. It can either be deployed by a single man carrying a missile and control equipment or from a vehicle. It has been fitted to the Volvo L3314 and the Scottish Aviation Bulldog. In the Swiss Army, it was mounted on Steyr-Daimler-Puch Haflinger light wheeled vehicles, as well as experimentally on a MOWAG Tornado IFV prototype

Bantam was fired in anger by Argentinian Marines and the crew of ARA Santa Fe (S-21) during the Falklands War, 1982. While under fierce attack and sustaining severe damage by British Royal Navy anti-ship helicopters, the submarine crew returned fire with rifles, light machine guns, and a Bantam.