The world is full of stories and photographs, and in TFB’s Photo Of The Day you can check these stories every day, every minute, all year round. Today the photographer really nailed it, as we take a closer look at the RBS56 BILL wire-guided anti-tank missile.

BILL is short for Bofors Infantry Light and Lethal anti-tank missile, and the Austrian Army named it the Panzerabwehrlenkwaffe 2000 (PAL2000). The system has been manufactured since 1985.

PAL2000 sounds like some kind of video system that never made it commercially, but in this case it’s an anti-tank missile which has its warhead aimed downwards at an angle of 30 degrees. It’s triggered by a proximity fuze as the missile passes over the intended target, hitting the tank at its weakest point.

The guided missiles can hit targets out to 1,600 – 1,900 meters, making it very difficult to spot. This is a armored vehicle’s or tank’s worst nightmare.

The Steyr AUG. It’s AUGtober after all.

Below you can find a video of the “Panzerabwehrlebkwaffe” in action.

There is also an information page from the Austrian Army, in German, for the Panzerabwehrlenkwaffe 2000 BILL.

All photos by Nick Rainer.