A portable anti-aircraft missile system (MANPADS) is an effective weapon that is in the arsenal of a modern infantryman. MANPADS is an anti-aircraft missile system that is designed to be transported and fired by one person. Due to their relatively small size, modern MANPADS are mobile, they can be easily disguised. Their small size, rather high efficiency and relative cheapness made them very popular. "Manual" air defense systems have made a real revolution in military affairs, especially in low-intensity armed conflicts. With their appearance, to cover tank and infantry units from air attacks from helicopters and attack aircraft, it became unnecessary to deploy expensive and cumbersome batteries and air defense battalions.
The idea to equip an infantryman with an effective means of combating air targets appeared back in the Second World War, when aviation began to play an important role on the battlefield. At the very end of the war, German designers tried to use the concept of an effective, simple and relatively inexpensive Panzerfaust anti-tank grenade launcher already created in Germany to combat enemy aircraft. The result of their research was the emergence of a portable multi-barreled installation of unguided anti-aircraft missiles Luftfaust-B, which never reached the stage of mass production. In fact, we are talking about anti-aircraft grenade launchers, which were the predecessors of modern MANPADS.
The beginning of the development of portable anti-aircraft missile systems in the modern sense of this term dates back to the 1950s. But the first samples of MANPADS equipped with guided missiles began to enter service only in the late 1960s. These complexes were widely used during the battles of the Arab-Israeli "war of attrition" in 1969. The first complex that was tested in a combat situation was the Soviet Strela-2 MANPADS. Since the 1970s, MANPADS have been actively used in wars and military conflicts of varying degrees of intensity across the globe, not only by army units, but also by various partisan detachments and rebel formations that have come to love a cheap and effective means of fighting enemy aircraft.
Anti-aircraft grenade launcher Luftfaust-B
MANPADS "Strela-2"
"Strela-2" (GRAU index - 9K32, according to NATO codification SA-7 Grail "Grail") is a Soviet portable anti-aircraft missile system. Work on the complex began in the USSR in 1960. On the basis of the Government Decree of January 10, 1968, the Strela-2 MANPADS was put into service, and on September 2 of the same year, the development of improved models of the Strela-2M complex, as well as the Strela-3, began. The Strela-2M MANPADS was put into service in 1970. In the mid-1970s, the Strela-2 complex with a 9M32 rocket was tested on Mi-2 helicopters (4 missiles on each) as an air-to-air weapon. Serial production of the complexes continued until the first half of the 1980s. At various times, the complex was successfully operated in the armies of 60 countries of the world.
The lead developer of the Strela-2 (9K32) portable air defense system, which consisted of a launch tube with a power source, a 9M32 anti-aircraft guided missile (SAM) and a launch device, was the SKB GKOT design bureau - the only one from a number of requested design bureaus that agreed to take on creation of a portable complex. The chief designer of the SKB GKOT was B. I. Shavyrin, who in the pre-war period formed a team of designers at the enterprise, which ensured the creation of most of the mortars used by the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War. In the post-war years, the organization based in Kolomna continued work on the creation of various types of mortar weapons, including the unique 406-mm self-propelled Oka system. Since the mid-1950s, SKB began to create a self-propelled anti-tank complex with a wire-guided anti-tank missile "Shmel", work on the project was successfully completed in 1960.
After the death of Shavyrin in 1965, S. P. Invincible was appointed chief designer, and already in 1966 the SKB was renamed into the Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering (KBM). The development of a portable air defense system initially seemed very problematic to specialists. The design and development of requirements for the Strela-2 MANPADS were carried out in an extraordinary way, through the organization of deep scientific research at the Research Institute-3 GAU, as well as the development of bold technical ideas in the industrial sphere. The design of the first Soviet MANPADS began with a full-fledged "brainstorming": Shavyrin and a group of KB specialists for two weeks completely abandoned current affairs and, in the course of an exchange of ideas, were able to formulate the requirements and appearance of the future complex, and were also able to develop proposals for the project of tactical and technical requirements for Strele-2.
Yugoslav soldier with Strela-2 MANPADS
Later, information received from abroad about the American portable anti-aircraft missile system "Red Eye" confirmed the great similarity of technical proposals in the United States and the USSR, which ultimately formed the basis of the portable air defense system "Strela-2". The designers of the two countries, independently of each other, recognized the most appropriate solutions in the field of the technical component of the projects as necessary. A very important element of the portable air defense system was the thermal homing head (TGSN) on the target, its creation was entrusted to OKB-357 of the Leningrad Economic Council (in the future it became part of the Leningrad Optical and Mechanical Association - LOMO).
The small-sized missile defense system of the new complex was equipped with a light warhead - 1, 17 kg, which could inflict significant damage to an air target only with a direct hit. When using a thermal seeker with low sensitivity, the missile of the complex was aimed at the target "in pursuit", so that the most probable case was the approach to the target with small angles to its surface. On impact, the process of rapid destruction of the missile defense system took place. In such conditions, for the successful and effective destruction of an air target in the rocket's explosive device, a pulsed highly sensitive magnetoelectric regenerator was used for the first time, in the circuit of which reactive contacts and a semiconductor amplifier were used, which ensured timely action when hitting strong obstacles.
The combat use of the Strela-2 portable complex showed its insufficient effectiveness. Many aircraft damaged by the missile complex then returned to their airfields, where they were re-commissioned after a short repair. This was due to the fact that the missiles fell into the tail of the aircraft, in which there were no or very few units and systems vital for the continuation of the flight, and the power of the missile's warhead was not enough to create a large destruction zone of the air target structure.
MANPADS "Strela-2M"
In accordance with the decree of the Government of the USSR of September 2, 1968, work began on the modernization of the Strela-2 MANPADS. The new portable complex was designated "Strela-2M" (index GRAU 9K32M). The complex was designed to defeat low-flying targets on catch-up and collision courses in the conditions of their visual visibility. MANPADS also made it possible to launch missiles at stationary and maneuvering air targets. The main type of missile launches is launches on catch-up courses at all types of helicopters and aircraft flying at speeds up to 950 km / h. Launches on a collision course can only be conducted against helicopters and propeller driven aircraft flying at speeds of up to 550 km / h.
MANPADS "Strela-2M" with a missile 9M32M
The upgraded version of the Strela-2M MANPADS was tested from October 1969 to February 1970 on the territory of the Donguz test site. After the completion of the tests on February 16, the complex developed at the KBM in Kolomna was officially put into service. In the same 1970, the production of anti-aircraft guided missiles for him began at the Degtyarev Kovrov Plant, and launchers at the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant. One of the features of the complex was the improvement of the possibility of hitting targets flying on a collision course (the speed of the targets hit increased from 100 m / s to 150 m / s).
The composition of the Strela-2M MANPADS:
- homing anti-aircraft guided missile 9M32M in a launch tube;
- disposable power supply;
- reusable trigger.
When preparing the missile defense system for launch, first of all, the starting power source is turned on. The seeker (seeker) is powered. In five seconds, the gyroscope rotor spins up in autopilot, after which the MANPADS is ready for combat use. At the right time, the shooter simply aims the launcher at the air target and pulls the trigger. As soon as the thermal radiation of an air target enters the field of view of the seeker, the shooter is notified of this using an audible signal. When the seeker goes into automatic tracking mode, the shooter sees a light signal. After 0.8 seconds, voltage is applied to the delay unit and the electric igniter of the powder pressure accumulator. After another 0.6 seconds, the battery enters the operating mode, voltage is supplied to the electric igniter of the ejection engine. About 1.5 seconds after the appearance of the light signal, the rocket starts.
As soon as the head of the rocket leaves the launch tube, the rudders open under the action of the springs. After that, the stabilizers are folded back, and at a distance of 5-6 meters from the shooter, the main engine of the missile defense system is triggered. At the beginning of the operation of the main engine of the rocket, under the action of inertial forces, a special inertial stopper is activated, which is responsible for preparing the explosive device for cocking. At a distance of 80-250 meters from the shooter, the second stage of the fuse is triggered - the pyrotechnic fuses are completely burned out, the preparation of the explosive device is being completed. In flight, the optical axis of the seeker is always directed at the air target: regardless of the position of the longitudinal axis of the missile defense system, the head follows the object and corrects the missile's course until it meets the target. If the rocket misses, after 14-17 seconds from the moment of launch, the self-liquidator is triggered, the rocket is destroyed.
Compared to the Strela-2 MANPADS, the upgraded Strela-2M complex has improved the following tactical and technical characteristics:
- the processes of capturing an air target of the seeker and launching an air defense missile system at high-speed air targets when firing on catch-up courses were automated, which makes it easier for the anti-aircraft gunner to combat combat, especially when firing from mobile objects;
- selection of a moving target was carried out against the background of motionless natural interference;
- it became possible to defeat air targets flying at speeds up to 260 m / s on catch-up courses (it was 220 m / s);
- provided shooting at air targets on a collision course, flying at a speed of up to 150 m / s (it was 100 m / s);
- provided the elimination of the error of the gunner-anti-aircraft gunner in determining the near boundary of the missile launch zone;
- the affected area has grown on the catch-up courses of jet aircraft (in range and in height).
In the course of modernization, the noise immunity of the thermal seeker of the "Strela-2M" portable complex increased when operating against a cloudy background. Thanks to the efforts of the designers, it was possible to ensure firing when finding a target against the background of continuous (layered), light (cirrus) and cumulus clouds of less than three points. At the same time, with cumulus sun-illuminated clouds of more than three points, especially in the spring-summer period, the MANPADS coverage area was significantly limited. The minimum angle in the sun, at which it was possible to track the air targets of the seeker, was 22-43 °. The horizon line was also a limitation for use on a sunny day, it limited the coverage area of the complex to an elevation angle greater than 2 °. In other conditions, the horizon had no effect on shooting. At the same time, the complex was not protected from false thermal interference (fired by helicopters and airplanes of heat traps).
Damage to the Lockheed AC-130 gunship over South Vietnam on May 12, 1972 by a Strela-2 MANPADS missile
It was possible to launch a rocket at an aerial target from the shoulder from a standing position or from a knee. MANPADS made it possible to launch missiles from a trench, as well as from various positions occupied by the shooter on the water, roofs of buildings, swampy terrain, from cars or armored vehicles moving on flat terrain at a speed of no more than 20 km / h, as well as from a place with a short stop. The Strela-2M MANPADS made it possible to launch an anti-aircraft missile by a shooter who used personal chemical protection equipment. In the stowed position, the complex was carried by the shooter behind his back on a special shoulder strap.
The performance characteristics of the Strela-2 (9K32) MANPADS:
The range of targets hit is 3400 m.
The height of target destruction is 50-1500 m.
The maximum rocket speed is 430 m / s.
The maximum speed of the targets hit: in pursuit - 220 m / s, towards - 100 m / s.
Rocket - 9M32
The caliber of the rocket is 72 mm.
Missile length - 1443 mm.
The launch mass of the rocket is 9, 15 kg.
The mass of the missile warhead is 1, 17 kg.
The mass of the complex in the firing position is 14, 5 kg.
The preparation time for rocket launch is 10 seconds.
