Phoenix was an all weather, day or night, real time surveillance system which consisted of a variety of elements. The twin boom UAV (unmanned air vehicle) provides surveillance through its surveillance pod, the imagery from which was data linked via a ground data terminal (GDT) to a ground control station (GCS).

This controls the overall Phoenix mission and was used to distribute the UAV provided intelligence direct to artillery forces, to command level, or to a Phoenix troop command post (TCP).

The principle method of communication from the GCS to artillery on the ground was via the battlefield artillery engagement system (BATES).

Powered by a 19kW (25hp) Target Technology 342 two stroke flat twin engine, the Phoenix air vehicle (with a centrally mounted fuel tank) was almost entirely manufactured from composites such as Kevlar, glass fibre, carbon reinforced plastics and Nomex honeycomb. The principal subcontractor was Flight Refuelling of Christchurch in Dorset.

The modular design UAV could be launched within one hour of reaching a launch site and a second UAV could be dispatched within eight minutes from the same launcher. The wing span was 5.5 m and the maximum launch weight 175 kgs. The manufacture, GEC states that "Flight endurance is in excess of four hours, radius of action 50 kms and the maximum altitude 2,700 m (9,000 feet).

A flight section consists of a launch and recovery detachment and a ground control detachment.
 

The launch and recovery detachment consisted of three vehicles; the launch support vehicle, with several UAVs and mission pods in separate battlefield containers, plus operational replacement spares and fuel; the launch vehicle, which features a pallet mounted lifting crane, the hydraulic catapult and launch ramp, a pre launch detonator device, built in test equipment, and the Land Rover recovery vehicle which is fitted with cradles for the air vehicle and mission pod.


The ground control detachment consisted of two vehicles, the ground control station and the Land Rover towed ground data terminal.

The British Army had one regiment (32 Regiment) equipped with Phoenix. Each of the three Phoenix batteries in 32 Regiment were equipped with 27 x UAV, with associated ground support equipment and a battery had enough resources to launch 72 flights. The total cost of the programme was £227 million and each Phoenix aircraft was believed to cost approximately £300,000. The overall initial purchase was 198 Phoenix.

The final operational flight of the Phoenix was conducted by in May 2006.

MILAN 2 - No Longer In Service

The Milan came in two main portable components, which are the launcher and the missile. It was a simple matter to clip both items together and prepare the system for use. On firing, the operator had only to keep his aiming mark on the target and the SACLOS guidance system would do the rest.

Milan was the first of a series of infantry anti-tank weapons that seriously started to challenge the supremacy of the main battle tank on the battlefield. During fighting in Chad in 1987, it appears that 12 Chadian Milan, post mounted on Toyota Light Trucks, were able to account for over 60 Libyan T-55s and T-62s. Reports from other conflicts suggest similar results.

Milan was on issue throughout the British Army and an armoured infantry battalion could be expected to be equipped with up to 24 firing posts and 200 missiles. Milan is in service with 36 nations worldwide and it is believed that there were over 1,000 firing posts in service with the British Army. It was replaced by the Javelin in mid-2005

In addition to being capable of defeating main battle tanks (MBTs) from all aspects, Milan was also required to have a secondary capability against other battlefield targets, such as fixed defences.