Drafted — not technically validated
Record revision 1 · Sweden's sea-skimming anti-ship missile for the Lansen and Viggen.
Real-world weapon as described in public sources. Weights and dimensions change with the fins, fuzes and variant fitted; the data plate names the variants its figures describe, and differences are noted beside the number they affect. The record describes the weapon; it is not a guide to employing it.
RB 04 anti-ship missile · RB 04
- Type
- Long-range, sea-skimming, fire-and-forget air-to-surface anti-ship missile [1]
- Origin
- Sweden
- In service
- 1962 [1]
- Weight
- 600 kg (1,323 lb) [1]
- Dimensions
- Length 4.45 m (14.6 ft); diameter 50 cm (20 in); wingspan 2.04 m (6.7 ft) [1]
- Warhead or payload
- 300 kg (661 lb) high explosive, blast and pre-fragmented [1]
- Guidance
- Active radar homing [1]
- Fuzing
- Impact or proximity [1]
- Delivery
- Area attack on a group of ships, or select targeting on a single vessel [1]
- Range
- 32 km (17 NM) [1]
- Carried by
- Saab A 32 Lansen, AJ 37 and AJS 37 ViggenAJS 37 Viggen AircraftA Swedish canard-delta attack aircraft built to fly from road bases, with a thrust reverser and anti-ship missiles. [1]
- Variants
- RB 04E: the final version, carried by the Viggen [1]
Sweden’s answer to an invasion fleet
In 1949 the Swedish government asked for a radar-guided, air-launched anti-ship missile, and Saab’s RB 04 was first test-launched from a Saab 29 Tunnan in early 1955. [1] It is a long-range, sea-skimming, fire-and-forget missile. [1] It had two modes: area attack against a big group of ships, such as an invasion fleet, and select targeting, homing on a single vessel. In area mode the early missile would only attack a ship within 1,000 m of another, and changing that distance meant a workshop hardware change. [1]
Never fired in anger
The RB 04 never saw combat. The closest it came was the “Whiskey on the Rocks” incident of 1981, when a Soviet submarine ran aground outside the Karlskrona naval base and Swedish AJ 37 ViggensAJS 37 Viggen AircraftA Swedish canard-delta attack aircraft built to fly from road bases, with a thrust reverser and anti-ship missiles. stood on high alert with RB 04Es under their wings. [1] Many of its parts, including the body and warhead, were reused in the RBS 15RBS 15 anti-ship missile OrdnanceThe RB 04's turbojet successor, fired from the Viggen, the Gripen, ships and coastal trucks.. [1]
Sources
- RB 04. Wikipedia (secondary source). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RB_04 (accessed 2026-10-27).
Wikipedia articles are secondary sources and can change; they are cited with the date they were read. NAVEDTRA training manuals and budget justification exhibits are official US publications, but each describes the weapons in service when it was written.