The MILAN 2 variant, which entered service with the French, German and British armies in 1984, uses an improved 115 mm high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) shaped charge warhead.

The MILAN 3 entered service with the French army in 1995 and features a new-generation localizer that makes the system more difficult to jam electronically.

Early missile versions used a simple flare to show the launch post their position left–right and above–below the crosshair, which then led to steering commands (SACLOS guidance).

This was exploited with IR jammers such as Soviet Shtora that created a strong signal that was always on target, and thus led to wrong steering commands.

Both the explosive reactive armour and the guidance jamming provided excellent frontal protection for well-equipped Warsaw Pact main battle tanks against Milan and other 1980's SACLOS-guided anti-tank missiles until both were countered through technical means after the end of the Cold War.

[11] MILAN missiles provided by the French government saw common usage during the war between Chad and Libya where they were used by Chadian forces.

Often mounted on Toyota pickup trucks, the missiles successfully engaged Libyan armour in the Aouzou Strip including T-55 tanks.

Six SADF MILAN teams were deployed by the Special Forces in support of the Angolan UNITA guerrillas, in the Cazombo Salient in 1985 during Operation Wallpaper.