Many SACLOS weapons are based on an infrared seeker aligned with the operator's gunsight or sighting telescope.
This signal is sent to the missile, often using thin metal wires or a radio link, which causes it to steer back toward the center of the line-of-sight.
With wire- and radio-guided SACLOS, the sighting device can calculate the angular difference in direction from the missile position to the target location.
It can then give electronic instructions to the missile that correct its flight path so it is flying along a straight line from the sighting device to the target.
In most configurations, the narrow field camera utilizes electronics that translate the brightest spot in the view – the flare or strobe of the missile – into an electrical impulse.
This was also one of the main advantages over concurrent SALH systems regarding detection: a laser riding beam emitter is typically a low powered device and does not need to be pointed immediately to the target.
Another advantage in antitank applications is that the backward-looking guidance system does not interfere with the process of jet formation of high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) charges, thus maximizing weapon's effectiveness.
The main disadvantage of both SACLOS guidance systems in an anti-tank role is that working on angular differences evaluation, it does not allow any notable separation between guidance system and missile launch post the opposite of manual command to line of sight (MCLOS) ones, thus allowing updated version of such anti-tank weapons (notably AT-3 Malyutka) to still remain in service in some countries.