The RB-57 NLAW (Next Light Anti-armour Weapon) was a British lightweight antitank missile requirement comparable to the French Eryx or US Marine Corps Predator. Development started in 1989 and in 1997 the requirement for an off-the-shelf solution was formalized as MoD Staff Target (Land) 4098. Three companies submitted bids in March 1998: the Kestral, a variant of the Lockheed Martin Predator (see report), the Dynamit Nobel Panzerfaust 3T 600 and the Bofors MBT-LAW. The British Army down-selected to two contractors in 1999 for project definition (Kestral and MBT-LAW). In May 2002, the MoD selected the Bofors MBT-LAW for the requirement. Initial deployment with the British and Swedish armies took place in the summer of 2009. The British program objective was 14,022 missiles, and the Swedish army placed an order in 2005. Finland ordered the weapon in late 2007 and Luxembourg in 2010.
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