The Swedish adopted the weapon in 1986 as the Pansarskott m/86, incorporating the required improvements from the M136 spec while adding a folding foregrip (instead of using the front end of the shoulder strap as a front grip as on the M136). By using the night sight mounting bracket (NSN 5340-0), the launcher can be fitted with an AN/PAQ-4C IR laser or AN/PEQ-2 visible laser module, AN/PAS-13 thermal sight or AN/PVS-4 night vision scope, among others. The M136 variant is used with pop-up iron sights by default, fixed front and adjustable rear with two apertures and a range scale indicator underneath. The system first saw combat during the US invasion of Panama in 1989. It was adopted by the US Army and US Marine Corps as the Lightweight Multipurpose Weapon M136 AT4: the designation "AT4" is a pun on both the weapon's caliber and its year of adoption. Testing showed the AT4 to be the most effective among the tested weapon systems, with a report in 1983 recommending its adoption: it was confirmed as the winner in 1984 and full-rate production of a variant with some recommended modifications began in 1985. It was developed as a replacement for the obsolete 74mm Pansarskott m/68, with the first test firings in 1981, and quickly became involved in the US Army's emergency purchase program aimed at replacing the M72 LAW after the failure of the FGR-17 Viper in 1983.
It was originally developed by Förenade Fabriksverken (FFV): FFV Ordnance was later merged with Bofors AB as part of the Celsius Group, which was bought up by Saab AB in 1999: while Saab would later sell the heavy weapons division of Bofors to United Defense, Saab retained its missile and rocket division.
#AT4 ROCKET LAUNCHER MANUAL#
The Saab Bofors Dynamics AT4 is a Swedish-made single-shot 84mm unguided light anti-tank recoilless launcher system, effectively a single-shot Carl Gustav Recoilless Rifle: in spite of what its own US Army field manual claims (due to copy-pasting large blocks of text from the manual for the M72 LAW), it is not a rocket launcher, as the round does not have an integral motor. Pansarskott m/86, Swedish Army version of the AT4 with folding foregrip - 84mm
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