optics in the centre. However, this concept was seen as flawed as there was no need to rotate Swingfire to point at the target, so a new version was designed with five launcher tubes in a box along the rear of the vehicle. Another five rounds are stored in the vehicle, and like FV438, the tubes can be reloaded by lowering the tubes but the rounds have to be inserted from outside the vehicle. Upgrades The problem with the rocket exhaust became evident during the period in which new low-smoke solid rocket motors were being developed in the US and Canada, and the company agreed to develop a new motor for Swingfire to be available for 1972. Another lingering problem was that the gyro which kept the missile flying level tended to drift, but this was corrected simply by angling the launch tubes up more. A larger upgrade was the "Swingfire Improved Guidance", or SWIG. This added an infrared tracker to the vehicle optics that tracked the rocket motor exhaust and sent the correct commands to the missile to bring it inline with the sights. This was the same basic system used on the TOW. This makes missile guidance much easier as the gunner simply has to keep their sight pointed at the target and does not have to make any corrections themselves. Barr & Stroud introduced an infrared spotting scope that was evaluated by the Army in 1982. This led to a 1984 purchase of 3,500 sights. British Aerospace later introduced a thermal imaging sight that gave the missile much better night time performance. Swingfire was developed by Fairey Engineering Ltd and the British Aircraft Corporation, together with Wallop Industries Ltd and minor subcontractors. It replaced the Vickers Vigilant missile in British service. Besides its use on the FV438 Swingfire and the Striker armoured vehicles, Swingfire was developed to be launched from other platforms: FV712, Mk 5 Ferret with 4 missiles in use with the British Army Beeswing – pallet that can be mounted on on a Land Rover or similar. Hawkswing – on a Lynx helicopter. Golfswing – on a small trolley or Argocat vehicle. Combat history Swingfire was used in the Gulf War. Replacement in British Army After a lengthy debate, the Swingfire was replaced with the Javelin in mid-2005 to meet new and changing situational requirements. The British Army invested heavily in the Javelin, and it