RB 04

• Is Missile — yes • Name — RB-04E • Origin — Sweden • Type — Fire and forget anti-ship missile • Used By — Sweden • Manufacturer — SAAB • Propellant — Solid • Service — 1962–2000? • Engine — INI Solid Rocket Engine • Weight — 600 kg • Length — 4.45 m • Diameter — 50 cm • Wingspan — 2.04 m • Speed — subsonic • Vehicle Range — 32 km • Altitude — sea skimming • Filling — 300 kg HE blast and pre-fragmented • Guidance — active radar homing, Track on Jam (AGA-1 seeker, Rb04C) • Detonation — impact or proximity • Launch Platform — Aircraft A 32, AJ 37, AJS 37

While interest in guided anti-ship missiles was subdued in the 1950s, it was not entirely extinct. In 1949, the Swedish government placed a request for a radar-guided, air-launched anti-ship missile. The request materialized as the SAAB "Robot-Byrån (RB) 04", which was first test launched by a Saab 29 Tunnan fighter in early 1955. The early versions of the missile suffered teething problems in regards to the two targeting modes, which were area attack, for striking a big group of ships (like an invasion fleet), and select targeting, where the missiles home in on a single vessel. In the area attack the missile would only target a ship in the group if they were within 1,000 meters of another vessel, this was also in the early electronic age, and changes in this distance required hardware modifications in a workshop. Many components of the missile were reused when the RBS-15 was developed, including the main body and warhead, although the motor and main wings were the most obvious external changes.

• RB-04C: The initial production version, the "RB-04C", entered service with Swedish Air Force A 32A Lansen attack aircraft in 1959. The RB-04C had a canard configuration, with short triangular cruciform fins around the nose, and two wide wings with fins attached to the wingtips. The RB-04C had a boost-sustain solid rocket motor and a SAP warhead that could be fitted with a contact or proximity fuse. • RB-04D: Further development of the C version. Longer range rocket engines and maintenance free thermal batteries were the main improvements. Introduced in the late 1960s. • RB-04E: Further development of the D version to suit the new AJ37 Viggen strike aircraft. The missile had a shorter wingspan and improved guidance system and new monopulse radar seeker. This version was highly resistant to ECM and would automatically lock on especially powerful jamming signals.

• Illustration — Robot 04 on A32A Lansen The missile has never seen combat; the closest it has come to being used was during the "Whiskey on the Rocks" incident in 1981, when a Soviet (NATO code Whiskey Class) submarine ran aground outside the naval station in Karlskrona. Swedish AJ37 Viggens with RB-04E's mounted under their wings, taken from top secret storage bunkers, stood on high alert for a possible Soviet incursion. On one occasion, when a Soviet rescue operation seemed to be underway, aircraft were scrambled with the intent to intercept Soviet ships.

The canonical record carries the following identifying particulars. Classified as an anti-ship missile. It is also recorded that rB 04 is associated with Sweden.