In the early 60s, the British company Shorts Missile Systems began developing a portable anti-aircraft missile system designed to protect small units from attacks by combat aircraft operating at low altitudes. Once again, the specialists of the firm, located in the Irish city of Belfast, went their own way.
At about the same time, the development of anti-aircraft systems for a similar purpose was carried out in the USA and the USSR. When choosing a guidance system for anti-aircraft missiles of portable complexes in our country and overseas, preference was given to the seeker, which reacted to the heat of a jet engine. As a result, the Soviet Strela-2M MANPADS and the American FIM-43 Redeye, created independently of each other, had a certain external similarity and close capabilities to defeat air targets.
The advantage of a rocket with a TGSN is its complete autonomy after launch on a previously captured target, which does not require participation in the aiming process of the shooter. The disadvantages are the low noise immunity of the first generation MANPADS and the restrictions imposed when firing towards natural and artificial heat sources. In addition, due to the low sensitivity of the first seeker, induced by heat, as a rule, it was possible to shoot only in pursuit.
Unlike American and Soviet developers, Shorts specialists used the familiar radio command guidance method for their MANPADS, which was previously used in the British Sea Cat and Tigercat anti-aircraft complexes. The advantages of a short-range anti-aircraft missile with a radio command guidance system are considered the ability to attack an air target on a head-on course and insensitivity to heat traps used to jam MANPADS missiles with IR seeker. It was also believed that missile control using radio commands would allow firing at targets flying at extremely low altitudes and even, if necessary, use MANPADS at ground targets.
The complex, called "Blowpipe" (English Blowpipe - blowpipe), entered testing in 1965. In 1966, it was first demonstrated at the Farnborough Air Show, and in 1972 it was officially adopted in the UK. "Blopipe" entered the air defense companies of the British army, each company had two anti-aircraft platoons, three squads with four MANPADS.
MANPADS "Bloupipe"
British MANPADS turned out to be much heavier than its American and Soviet competitors. So, "Bloupipe" weighed 21 kg in a combat position, the mass of missiles was 11 kg. At the same time, the Soviet MANPADS "Strela-2" weighed 14, 5 kg with a SAM weight of 9, 15 kg.
With a much smaller mass and dimensions, the Soviet complex showed in real combat conditions a greater probability of hitting a target and was much easier to handle.
The greater weight of the Bloupipe MANPADS is due to the fact that, in addition to the radio command missile defense system in a sealed transport and launch container, it includes guidance devices located in a separate unit. The removable guidance unit includes an optical fivefold sight, a calculating device, a command transmission station and a battery. On the control panel there is a switch for changing the frequencies at which the guidance and alignment system works. The ability to change the frequency of radio guidance commands increases noise immunity and makes it possible to simultaneously fire at one target for several complexes.
The transport and launch container is assembled from two cylindrical pipes of different diameters, its front part is much larger. TPK are stored in special shock-resistant sealed boxes, which, if necessary, can be dropped by parachute.
After firing an anti-aircraft missile, a new TPK with an unused missile defense system is attached to the guidance unit. The used container can be re-equipped with a new anti-aircraft missile at the factory.
The rocket, in addition to the contact one, is also equipped with a proximity fuse. A proximity fuse detonates the warhead in the event of a miss during a missile flight in close proximity to the target. When firing at targets flying at extremely low altitudes or at ground and surface targets, to prevent premature detonation of the missile warhead, the proximity fuse is previously disabled. The prelaunch preparation process from the moment the target is detected to the missile launch takes about 20 seconds.
The effectiveness of the use of the British "Bloupipe" very much depended on the training and psychophysical state of the MANPADS operator. In order to create sustainable skills for operators, a special simulator has been created. In addition to practicing the process of locking and aiming the missile defense system at the target, the simulator reproduced the launch effect with a change in mass and center of gravity.
Performance characteristics MANPADS "Bloupipe"
By order of the Thai Air Force, a twin modification of the BLOPIPE MANPADS - LCNADS - was developed to provide air defense for airfields. It can be mounted on an off-road chassis or on a tripod.
In the early 80s, for the self-defense of submarines from anti-submarine aviation at low altitudes, the British company Vickers developed the SLAM (Submarine-Launched Air Missile System) anti-aircraft complex.
The complex consists of a stabilized multi-charge launcher with six Bloupipe missiles in sealed containers, a control and guidance system, a television camera, and a verification system. Target detection is carried out visually through the submarine's periscope. The launcher of the SLAM air defense system in azimuth is induced synchronously with the rotation of the periscope.
SLAM complex on the British submarine HMS Aeneas
The operator of the anti-aircraft complex, in case of target detection, carries out aiming and takes control over himself. After launch, the missile is escorted through a television camera, the missile is controlled in flight by the operator using the guidance handle.
Of course, against aircraft, such an anti-aircraft system, in which there was no radar, and target detection occurred visually, through a periscope, was ineffective. But, according to the British, for diesel boats operating in coastal areas, the fight against which was entrusted to anti-submarine helicopters, such a complex could be in demand. Indeed, a helicopter with a hydroacoustic station lowered into the water, searching for a boat at low speed and limited in maneuver, is a much more vulnerable target.
However, this complex was not adopted by the British Navy and was offered exclusively to foreign customers. Perhaps the fact is that by the time SLAM appeared in the British fleet, there were almost no diesel boats left, and nuclear-powered ships operating in the ocean are not so vulnerable to anti-submarine aircraft. The only buyers of SLAM were the Israelis, who equipped their submarines with this anti-aircraft complex.
Baptism of fire MANPADS "Bloupipe" received in the Falklands, and it was used by both warring parties. The effectiveness of combat launches, both for the British and the Argentines, was low. Initially, the British claimed nine Argentine planes and helicopters were shot down. But after some time, it was only about one reliably destroyed Argentine attack aircraft.
In addition to covering the landing from the strikes of Argentine aviation on the islands, MANPADS were used to protect British landing and auxiliary ships. In total, about 80 Bloupipe anti-aircraft missiles were launched during this conflict.
This is how the British artist depicted the moment of the destruction of an Argentine plane with the help of the "Bloupipe" MANPADS
It is worth noting that in the first wave of the British amphibious assault there were FIM-92A "Stinger" MANPADS received from the USA (English stinger) of the first serial modification. On this Stinger model, the rocket was equipped with a simplified IR seeker with low noise immunity. However, the advantages of the American MANPADS were much lower weight and dimensions, as well as the absence of the need to aim the missile at the target throughout the entire flight phase, which was vital for the British marines operating under enemy fire. In that war, the Stinger MANPADS, first used against real targets in a combat situation, shot down the Pukara turboprop attack aircraft and the Puma helicopter. The successes of the Argentinean MANPADS calculations were also small, the Bloupipe anti-aircraft missile managed to hit the Harrier, the British pilot successfully ejected and was rescued.
The next time, the Blupipe MANPADS were used against Soviet aviation by the mujahideen in Afghanistan. However, the Afghan "freedom fighters" quickly became disillusioned with him. In addition to the large mass, the British complex turned out to be too difficult for them to learn and use. Two helicopters became victims of this anti-aircraft complex in Afghanistan. Against modern jet combat aircraft, the "Bloupipe" proved to be completely ineffective. In practice, the maximum firing range - 3.5 km when firing at fast-moving targets - due to the low flight speed of the rocket and decreasing in proportion to the accuracy range, it turned out to be impossible to realize. The actual firing range, as a rule, did not exceed 1.5 km. Attacks on a target on a collision course also proved to be ineffective. There was a case when the crew of the Mi-24 helicopter managed to destroy the MANPADS operator, who was carrying out the guidance, with a salvo of NURS, before the anti-aircraft missile hit the helicopter, after which the helicopter pilot turned sharply away and avoided being hit.
The Canadian military launched Bloupipe MANPADS in 1991 during the Gulf War, however, due to long-term storage, the missiles showed low reliability. The last time anti-aircraft systems "Bloupipe" were used by the Ecuadorian military in 1995 during the border conflict with Peru. This time, their targets were Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters.
The production of MANPADS "Bloupipe" was carried out from 1975 to 1993. It has been shipped to Guatemala, Canada, Qatar, Kuwait, Malawi, Malaysia, Nigeria, UAE, Oman, Portugal, Thailand, Chile and Ecuador.
By the early 80s, the Bloupipe complex was hopelessly outdated, the fighting in the Falkland Islands and Afghanistan only confirmed this. In 1979, the tests of the semi-automatic guidance system for the Bloupipe complex were completed. Further improvement of the guidance system SACLOS (English Semi-Automatic Command to Line of Sight - semi-automatic command line-of-sight system) made it possible to create the Bloupipe Mk.2 complex, better known as the Javelin (Javelin - spear). Its mass production began in 1984, in the same year a new MANPADS was put into service.
Compared to the Bloupipe, the Javelin MANPADS missile has a more powerful warhead. Due to the use of a new fuel formulation, it was possible to increase the specific impulse. This, in turn, led to an increase in the range of destruction of air targets. The Javelin complex, if necessary, can also be used against ground targets. The warhead is detonated using contact or proximity fuses.
TTX MANPADS "Javelin"
In its layout and appearance, the Javelin MANPADS is very similar to the Bloupipe, but on the Javelin the guidance system independently keeps the SAM in the line of sight during the entire flight. In other words, the operator of the Javelin complex does not need to control the missile with the joystick throughout the entire flight, but only needs to follow the target in the reticle of the optical sight.
With a significant external resemblance to the Javelin MANPADS, in addition to the new missile defense system, a different guidance unit is used. It is located on the right side of the safety trigger. The guidance unit has a stabilized sight, which provides visual tracking of the target, and a television camera, with the help of which the missile is guided in a semi-automatic mode at the target using the three-point method. Information received from a television camera, in digital form, after processing by a microprocessor, and transmitted to the missile board via a radio channel.
Automatic control of the missile along the line of sight during the entire flight time is carried out using a tracking television camera, which records the radiation of the tracer of the rocket tail. On the screen of the TV camera, the marks from the rocket and the target are displayed, their position relative to each other is processed by a computing device, after which the guidance commands are broadcast on board the rocket. In case of loss of control signals, the missile self-destructs.
For the Javelin MANPADS, a multi-charge launcher has been created - LML (Lightweight Multiple Launcher), which can be mounted on various chassis or installed on the ground.
MANPADS "Javelin" in the amount of 27 complexes were delivered in the second half of the 80s to the Afghan rebels. It turned out to be more effective compared to its predecessor, the Bloupipe MANPADS. In Afghanistan, 21 missile launches managed to shoot down and damage 10 aircraft and helicopters. Heat traps turned out to be completely ineffective against missiles with a radio command guidance system. The Blupipe was especially dangerous for helicopters. The Soviet crews learned how to accurately determine the British MANPADS by the "behavior" of the missile in the air. At the first stage, the main countermeasures were an intensive maneuver and shelling of the place from which the launch was made. Later, jammers began to be mounted on airplanes and helicopters in Afghanistan, which blocked the guidance channels of the Javelin missiles.
1984 to 1993 more than 16,000 Javelin MANPADS missiles were produced. In addition to the British Armed Forces, deliveries were made to Canada, Jordan, South Korea, Oman, Peru and Botswana.
Since the mid-80s, work has been carried out at Shorts to improve the Javelin MANPADS. The Starburst complex was originally designated Javelin S15. Having much in common with the Javelin complex, it is equipped with a laser guidance system. To prevent the disruption of the guidance and duplication process, the guidance equipment of the complex has two sources of laser radiation. The use of laser guidance of the rocket was due to the desire to increase the noise immunity of the complex. Thanks to a more powerful engine and improved aerodynamics of the rocket, the firing range has increased to 6000 m.
TTX MANPADS "Starburs"
Several variants of the complex have been developed with multi-charge launchers for installation on a tripod and various chassis. Mobile and ground multiple-charge launchers, in contrast to MANPADS used individually from single launchers, provide greater fire performance and better conditions for guiding an anti-aircraft missile to a target. All these factors ultimately affect the effectiveness of shooting and the likelihood of hitting a target. This led to the fact that the complexes "Javelin" and "Starburs" ceased to be "portable" in the direct sense of the word, but became essentially "transportable". This difference became even more noticeable after some of the complexes with multi-charge launchers were equipped with thermal imagers, which make anti-aircraft complexes all-day.
Radamec Defense Systems and Shorts Missile Systems Ltd created a naval air defense system called Starburst SR2000. It is designed to arm small-displacement warships and is a six-shot launcher on a stabilized platform with a Radamec 2400 optoelectronic surveillance system. This makes it possible to form a combined system with anti-aircraft missiles and detection equipment within the anti-aircraft complex. Radamec 2400 is capable of detecting air targets at ranges of more than 12 km, which allows it to accompany aircraft and helicopters in advance of the launch line of anti-aircraft missiles. The shipborne SAM Starburst SR2000 can also be used against anti-ship missiles flying at extremely low altitudes and surface targets.
Complexes "Blopipe", "Javelin" and "Starburs" were similar to each other, retaining continuity in many details, techniques and methods of application. This greatly facilitated the development, production and development of personnel. However, to endlessly use the technical solutions laid down in the early 60s, even for the conservative British, was too much.
Realizing this, the specialists of the Shorts Missile Systems company, on which all British MANPADS were created, began work on a completely new anti-aircraft complex back in the late 80s. In the second half of 1997, the complex called "Starstreak" (English Starstreak - star trail) was officially adopted in the UK. By that time, the manufacturer of the Starstrick complex was the transnational company Thales Air Defense, which acquired Shorts Missile Systems.
The new British complex uses a laser guidance system already tested before in the Starburs MANPADS. At the same time, Thales Air Defense engineers used a number of technical solutions in the new missile defense system that had no analogues in world practice before. The warhead of the rocket was originally made, in which there are three arrow-shaped combat elements and a system for their breeding. Each arrow-shaped element (length 400 mm, diameter 22 mm) has its own electric battery, control and laser beam guidance circuit, which determines the location of the target by analyzing the laser modulation.
SAM complex "Starstrick"
Another feature of the Starstrick complex is that after the launching engine ejects the missile from the transport and launch container, the sustainer, or more correctly, the accelerating engine, works for a very short time, accelerating the warhead to a speed of more than 3.5M. After reaching the maximum possible speed, three arrow-shaped combat elements weighing 900 g each are automatically fired. After separation from the booster block, the "arrows" line up in a triangle around the laser beam. The flight distance between the "arrows" is approximately 1.5 m. Each combat element is guided at the target individually by laser beams formed by the aiming unit, one of which is projected in the vertical and the other in the horizontal planes. This guidance principle is known as a "laser trail".
The swept warhead of the Starstrick missile defense system
The head part of the "arrow" is made of heavy and durable tungsten alloy, in the middle part of the submunition body there is an explosive charge weighing about 400 g, detonated by a contact detonator with some delay after the combat element hits the target. The destructive effect of the arrow-shaped element hitting the target approximately corresponds to a 40 mm projectile of the Bofors anti-aircraft cannon and, when firing at ground targets, is capable of penetrating the frontal armor of the Soviet BMP-1. According to the manufacturer, combat elements throughout the entire flight phase can hit air targets maneuvering with an overload of up to 9g. The British Starstrick complex was criticized due to the absence of a proximity fuse on warheads, however, according to the developers, due to the use of three arrow-shaped combat elements, the probability of hitting a target is at least 0.9 by at least one submunition.
TTX SAM "Starstrick"
Although the British anti-aircraft complex "Starstrick" is positioned as a MANPADS, while preparing this publication, I managed to find only one photograph of this complex in the option for launching from the shoulder, which, most likely, was taken during tests.
MANPADS "Starstrick"
Obviously, the fact is that catching a target in sight, launching and accompanying it during the entire flight of warheads, while keeping the launcher suspended, is a very difficult task. Therefore, the mass version of the complex was the LML lightweight multi-charge launcher, consisting of three vertically arranged TPK with an aiming unit mounted on a rotary device.
Of course, such an anti-aircraft gun can hardly be called portable. The weight of the tripod is 16 kg, the infrared sight is 6 kg, the tracking system is 9 kg, the aiming unit is 19.5 kg. That is, in total, excluding three anti-aircraft missiles, more than 50 kg.
It is clear that with such a weight and dimensions that are too large for MANPADS, the LML launcher is more suitable for mounting on various off-road chassis.
A number of self-propelled anti-aircraft systems have been created using Starstrick missiles. The most widespread and famous was the "Starstrick SP" air defense missile system, which was put into service in the UK. This complex is equipped with an ADAD passive infrared search system capable of detecting air targets at a distance of up to 15 km.
SAM "Starstrick SP"
In addition to the land variant, the Sea Stream near-zone air defense system is also known. It is intended for armament of boats, minesweepers and landing ships of small displacement. Laser-guided Starstrick anti-aircraft missiles in combination with the automatic 30-mm Bushmaster cannon can be used in the Sea Hawk Sigma combined missile and artillery system.
PU SAM "Sea Streak"
The first contract for the supply of Starstrick complexes outside the UK was signed in 2003 with South Africa, then in 2011 followed by a contract with Indonesia, in 2012 with Thailand, in 2015 with Malaysia. As of the end of 2014, about 7,000 anti-aircraft missiles had been produced. At present, an improved version of the Starstrick II has been developed with an increased firing range of up to 7000 m and an altitude reach of up to 5000 m.
A common feature of all British MANPADS is that after the missile is launched, the operator has to aim before meeting it with the target, which imposes certain restrictions and increases the vulnerability of the calculation. The presence of the equipment on the complex, with the help of which the guidance commands are transmitted, complicates the operation and increases its cost. Compared to MANPADS with TGS, British complexes are better suited to defeat targets flying at extremely low altitudes, and they are insensitive to thermal interference. At the same time, the weight and size characteristics of British MANPADS make their use by units operating on foot very difficult. During the hostilities in Afghanistan, it became clear that jamming the radio frequency guidance channels of the Javelin complexes is not a difficult task. After that, the transition to laser guidance systems was carried out on the British MANPADS. With high noise immunity of laser systems, they are highly susceptible to meteorological factors such as precipitation and fog. In the near future, we can expect the appearance of sensors on combat helicopters that will warn the crew about laser irradiation and the threat of being hit by missiles with a similar guidance system, which will undoubtedly reduce the effectiveness of British complexes.
