Vickers Vigilant, 127mm (U.K., 1963-1973)
The Vigilant (Visually Guided Infantry Light Anti-Tank) wire-guided anti-tank missile was designed by the Vickers company as a purely speculative project, without any request from the government to develop such a weapon. Nevertheless, it was eventually adopted by the British Army as a stop-gap measure while they were waiting for more capable missile systems to become available. Although initially intended as an infantry weapon, it was widely used on light vehicles.
For infantry use, the Vigilant comes in a carrying case which doubles as the launcher (38.5 lbs. together). Setting the launcher up takes about 20 seconds, after which the user can deploy the 70-yard connecting cable, which plugs into the sighting unit ($3,000, 5.6 lbs. including battery, optic, and carry case). The sighting unit consists of a plastic handset which connects via another cable to a battery pack (medium battery, GURPS High-Tech, p. 13). After attaching the ×3.2 monocular optic (Acc +1) and 4 seconds of charging the capacitors, the missile can be fired via a trigger on the handset and then steered to the target with a thumb-cup joystick. The battery holds enough charge for at least six uses, and a separate selector box ($1,000, 11 lbs.) allows the user to connect to up to six missiles, allowing them to be launched one after another.
ARTILLERY (GUIDED MISSILE) (IQ−5)
| TL | Weapon | Damage | Acc | Range | Weight | RoF | Shots | ST | Bulk | Rcl | Cost | LC | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Vickers Vigilant, 127mm | 6d×7(10) cr | 1+1 | 120/1,500 | 15/32.5 | 1 | 1 | 12M | −6 | 1 | $17,000 | 1 | [1][2][3][4] |
| linked | 6d×6 cr ex |
[1] First Range figure is speed in yards per second.
[2] Minimum range 220 yards.
[3] Guided attack (GURPS Basic Set, p. 412). Gunner uses Artillery (Guided Missile) to attack.
[4] Hazardous backblast (GURPS High-Tech, p. 147), 2d burn up to 4 yards, 1d burn up to 12 yards. Affects either side of the launcher, not behind.