9K34 Strela-3
9K34 Strela-3 | |
---|---|
Type | Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) |
Place of origin | Soviet Union |
Service history | |
In service | 1974–present |
Used by | See Operators |
Wars | Iran–Iraq War Salvadoran Civil War War in Abkhazia (1992–1993) Yugoslav Wars Second Congo War Afghan Civil War Iraq War |
Production history | |
Manufacturer | KBM, Kolomna |
Specifications | |
Mass | Missile weight: 10.3 kilograms (23 lb), Full system: 16.0 kg (35.3 lb) |
Length | 1.47 metres (4.8 ft) |
Operational range | 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) |
Flight altitude | 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) vs jets 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) vs slow moving targets |
Maximum speed | 470 metres per second (1,700 km/h; 1,100 mph) |
The 9K34 Strela-3 (Russian: 9К34 «Стрела-3», 'arrow', NATO reporting name: SA-14 Gremlin) is a man-portable air defense missile system (MANPADS) developed in the Soviet Union as a response to the poor performance of the earlier 9K32 Strela 2 (SA-7 Grail) system. The missile was largely based on the earlier Strela 2, and thus development proceeded rapidly. The new weapon was accepted into service in the Soviet Army in January 1974.
Description[]
The most significant change over the Strela 2 was the introduction of an all-new infra-red homing seeker head. The new seeker worked on FM modulation (con-scan) principle, which is less vulnerable to jamming and decoy flares than the earlier AM (spin-scan) seekers, which were easily fooled by flares and even the most primitive infrared jammers. The new seeker also introduced detector element cooling in the form of a pressurized nitrogen bottle attached to the launcher.
The effect of cooling was to expand the seeker's lead sulphide detector element's sensitivity range to longer wavelengths (slightly over 4 µm as opposed to 2.8 µm of uncooled PbS elements). In practice this made possible the tracking of cooler targets over longer ranges, and enabled forward-hemisphere engagement of jets under favourable circumstances. The seeker also had better tracking rate, enabling the missile to track maneuvering of fast and approaching targets.
A negative side effect from the aforementioned improvements was increased missile weight, which caused a slight decrease in the kinematic performance of the original Strela-2 (SA-7).[citation needed] Against relatively slow, low-altitude battlefield air threats the overall effectiveness was much improved.[citation needed]
Strela-3 missiles have been exported to over 30 countries.
The original Strela-3 missile was the 9M36. The follow-on to the Strela-3 was Igla.
The naval version of this missile has the NATO reporting name of SA-N-8.
Operational history[]
This section does not cite any sources. (September 2012) |
Iraq[]
On 22 November 2003 an Airbus A300 cargo plane was hit by a Strela-3 missile after takeoff from Baghdad International Airport, but managed to land safely despite losing hydraulic power.
On 6 May 2006, a British Westland Lynx AH.7 of the Royal Navy from 847 Squadron was shot down with a Strela-3 over Basra, killing five crewmen and crashing into a house.[1]
Georgia[]
During the War in Abkhazia (1992–1993), a Russian Mi-8 helicopter was shot down by a Georgian Army SA-14 on December 14, 1992, resulting in the death of 3 crew and 58 passengers, most of them Russian refugees. A Georgian Air Force Su-25 was shot down over Nizhnaya Eshera on 4 July 1993 by SA-14,[2] and several other aircraft on both sides may have been shot down by SA-14s.[3]
Former Yugoslavia[]
A British BAE Sea Harrier of 801 Naval Air Squadron, operating from aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal on 16 April 1994, was shot down during its attack on two Serbian T-55 tanks in Bosnia. The pilot, Lieutenant Nick Richardson, ejected and landed in territory controlled by friendly Bosnian Muslims.
DRC Congo[]
A Zimbabwe Air Force Il-76 was shot down by Congolese rebels using an SA-14 on 11 October 1998 during the Second Congo War, resulting in the death of 40 troops and crew.[4]
Afghanistan[]
SA-14s used by the Northern Alliance are credited with having shot down 8 Taliban MiG-21 and Su-22 fighters during the Taliban's 2000 offensive against Taloqan.[5]
Turkey[]
SA-14 (9K34 Strela-3) MANPADS was found during in June 2019 in the Hakurk region of northern Iraq belonging to the PKK.[6]
Operators[]
Current operators[]
- Afghanistan
- Algeria[citation needed]
- Angola[8]
- Armenia[citation needed]
- Azerbaijan[8]
- Bosnia and Herzegovina[8]
- Bulgaria[citation needed]
- Cambodia[citation needed]
- Croatia[8]
- Cuba[8]
- Cyprus[citation needed]
- Egypt[citation needed]
- Ethiopia[citation needed]
- Ghana[citation needed]
- Georgia – used during Georgian civil war.[9]
- Hezbollah[7]
- Indonesia[citation needed]
- Iran[8]
- Jordan[8]
- Kazakhstan[10]
- Kurdistan Workers' Party[11]
- Laos[citation needed]
- Lebanon[citation needed]
- Libya[citation needed]
- Morocco[citation needed]
- Myanmar- fitted on the Kilo class submarine, INS Sindhuvir (S58) which was transferred from India navy.
- Nicaragua[8]
- North Korea[8]
- Pakistan[citation needed]
- Peru[8]
- Russia[8]
- Sierra Leone
- Serbia - 600
- Sudan[citation needed]
- Syria[8]
- Turkmenistan[8]
- Ukraine[citation needed]
- Vietnam[citation needed]
Former operators[]
- Czechoslovakia – never inducted in military service[12]
- East Germany – never acquired to military service[12]
- Hungary – never acquired to military service[12]
- Iraq – some of them were looted after the Iraq War in 2003, being used in the post war insurgency and subsequent regional wars and finding their way in the black market.
- Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam[7]
- Poland – 100 bought in the 1980s, but never acquired to military service.[12]
- Soviet Union
- Yugoslavia
Comparison chart[]
System | 9K32M Strela-2M (missile: 9M32M) | 9K34 Strela-3 (missile: 9M36)[13] | FIM-43C Redeye[14] |
---|---|---|---|
Service entry | 1968 | 1974 | 1968 |
Mass, full system, ready to shoot | 15 kg | 16 kg | 13.3 kg |
Weight, missile | 9.8 kg | 10.3 kg | 8.3 kg |
Length | 1.44 m | 1.47 m | 1.40 m |
Warhead | 1.15 kg (0.37 kg HMX) directed-energy blast fragmentation | 1.17 kg (0.39 kg HMX) directed-energy blast fragmentation, including a 20g secondary charge to set off remaining rocket propellant | 1.06 kg M222 (0.36 kg HTA-3) blast fragmentation |
Seeker type | AM-modulated (spin scan), uncooled PbS detector element (1–2.8 µm sensitivity range). Tail-chase only. | FM-modulated (con scan), nitrogen-cooled PbS detector element (2–4.3 µm sensitivity range). Limited forward hemisphere (all-aspect) capability | AM-modulated, uncooled PbS detector element. Tail-chase only. |
Maximum range | 4,200 m | 4,500 m | 4,500 m |
Speed | 430 m/s | 470 m/s | 580 m/s |
Target's maximum speed, approaching/receding | 150/260 m/s | 310/260 m/s | –/225 m/s |
Engagement altitude | 0.05–2.3 km | 0.03–3.0 km | 0.05–2.7 km |
See also[]
- List of Russian weaponry
References[]
- ^ http://www.aviationnewsreleases.com/2009/04/raf-pursues-common-das-demonstrator.html
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2013-04-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ Cooper, Tom. "Georgia and Abkhazia, 1992-1993: the War of Datchas". ACIG.org. Archived from the original on 3 March 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ Cooper, Tom. "Zaire/DR Congo, 1980-2001". ACIG.org. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ Cooper, Tom. "Afghanistan, 1979-2001; Part 2". ACIG.org. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ COIN_TR (2019-06-19). "SA-14 (9K34 Strela-3) MANPADS was found today in Hakurk belonging to the PKK. Additionally, multiple caves, shelters, ammunition and IED's have been found and destroyed in the last couple of days. #OperationClaw #PençeHarekatıpic.twitter.com/zcaG89889K". @ddsgf9876. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Guided light weapons reportedly held by non-state armed groups 1998-2013" (PDF). Small Arms Survey. March 2013.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) (14 February 2018). "The Military Balance 2018". The Military Balance. 118.
- ^ Cooper, Tom. "Georgia and Abkhazia, 1992-1993: the War of Datchas". ACIG.org. Archived from the original on 3 March 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
- ^ Small Arms Survey (2012). "Blue Skies and Dark Clouds: Kazakhstan and Small Arms". Small Arms Survey 2012: Moving Targets. Cambridge University Press. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-521-19714-4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-08-31. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
- ^ "SA-14 (9K34 Strela-3) MANPADS was found today in Hakurk belonging to the PKK. Additionally, multiple caves, shelters, ammunition and IED's have been found and destroyed in the last couple of days". twitter.com. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d [1]
- ^ Istorija sozdanija i razvitija vooruzhenija i vojennoi theniki PVO suhoputnyh voisk Rossii
- ^ General Dynamics FIM-43 Redeye
Bibliography[]
- Petukhov, Sergei I.; Shestov I.V. (1998). History of design and development of missile systems and military systems of AAW of Russian Land Forces / Istorija sozdanija i razvitija vooruzhenija i vojennoi tehniki PVO suhoputnyh voisk Rossii, 1.-2. VPK Publishing.
- "Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, FIM-43". Archived from the original on 17 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Strela-3. |
- Surface-to-air missiles of the Soviet Union
- Surface-to-air missiles of Russia
- KB Mashinostroyeniya products
- Military equipment introduced in the 1970s