9K11 Malyutka

9K11 Malyutka
General Information
Type	Anti-tank missile
Manufacturer	Design office Tula / Kolomna
development	1961-1963
Technical specifications
length	0.86 m
diameter	125 mm
Combat weight	10.9 kg
span	393 mm
drive	Solid rocket engine
speed	115 m / s (average)
Range	500-3000 m
Furnishing
Target location	wired, MCLOS
Warhead	2.5 kg shaped charge
Lists on the subject

The 9K11 Maljutka ( Russian 9К11 Малютка tiny , NATO code name AT-3 Sagger ) is an MCLOS - Soviet-made anti-tank guided missile . The GRAY index of the missile is 9M14 . Sagger ( German  Alge ) is an acronym from s mall a nti-tank wire- g uided g uid e d- r ocket (German: small wire-controlled anti-tank guided missile ).

development

Development began in July 1961 after two development teams ( Tula and Kolomna ) had been entrusted with the project. The specifications named the following requirements:

• Can be carried by one person and mounted on vehicles.
• Range 3000 meters.
• Armor piercing against 200 mm steel at a 60 ° angle of impact.
• Weight maximum 10 kg.

The models were European guided missiles from the 1950s made by ENTAC from France and COBRA from Germany and Switzerland. Finally, the design of the Kolomna team was selected, which had already developed the 3M6 Schmel - a conceptually similar, but simpler predecessor. Initial tests were completed in December 1962 and the rocket was released for use in troop service in September 1963. Around 25,000 units were produced annually in the Soviet Union until around 1970; license versions were produced in another five countries. This made the 9M14 the most-produced guided missile of all time. As an infantry missile , it can be carried and used by one person.

commitment

The portable version of this rocket was used from 1963 by the anti-tank platoons of the Motorized Rifle Battalions (MSB) of the Soviet Army , each division having two "Malyutka" groups with two units each, each of which in turn served two launchers. Each unit also had an RPG-7 rifleman to cover the range up to 500 m that could not be fought with the 9M14 . The National People's Army (NVA) of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) took over the 9M14 Maljutka from the beginning of the 1970s .

Two BRDM-1 with 9M14 Maljutka (AT-3 Sagger)

The vehicle version was used on armored vehicles of the types BMP-1 , BMD -1, BRDM-1 , BRDM-2 , BTR-50PK and BTR-60PB .

At the military parade on May 1, 1965 in Moscow's Red Square, the 9M14 Maljutka was shown to the public for the first time on a BRDM-1 vehicle (launch complex 9P110).

The 9M14 was used in the Vietnam War in early 1972 with some success by the Vietnamese People's Army against tank units of the South Vietnamese Army .

Their use in the 1973 Yom Kippur War , in which Syria and Egypt carried out a surprise attack on Israel , was particularly effective . Each division deployed around 2,000 missiles; Soviet sources named 800 Israeli tanks incapacitated by 9M14 . According to Western sources, around 460 pieces were fired daily by each Egyptian division between October 6 and October 22, 1973, with only one in ten missiles destroying an Israeli tank.

The 9M14 was replaced in 1973 by the 9M111 "Fagot" , which reached an effective combat range of 70 to 2000 m and a flight speed of 186 m / s.

technology

9S415 control unit of the 9M14 with attached 9Sh16 periscope

The rocket was launched from a portable transport case with a launch frame ( 9P111 ), from vehicles such as the BMP-1 or BRDM-2 and from helicopters ( Mil Mi-2 , Mil Mi-8 , Mil Mi-24 ). It was ready to go within about five minutes after taking it out of the transport case.

It was controlled by a small joystick that was part of the 9S415 control unit . The signals were transmitted through a thin three-wire control line to the rocket, which pulled the rocket behind it. Immediately after take-off, it rose steeply to fly over possible obstacles. In order to stabilize the flight, it was set in a rotation of 8.5 rev / s by the tail unit wings and the drive in the longitudinal axis. A small gyroscope helped stabilize the flight path. As a result, the web stabilization was delayed by a few seconds, which resulted in the minimum target distance of 500 to 800 m.

Targets up to a distance of 1000 m were approached directly; for further afield came 9Sh16 - Periskopsucher used, which offered an 8-fold magnification with a field of view of 22.5 °. Targets lying in this sector and deviating from the starting direction could still be controlled, but the accuracy of the hit was reduced by around 50 percent compared to targets in the starting axis.

Initial estimates indicated a hit probability of 60 to 90 percent, but in practice it was only 2 to 25 percent - depending on the situation and the ability of the shooter.

It turned out that the joystick control required a lot of practice and skill from the shooter; this was the name given to a number of 2300 simulated flights that the shooter needed to master the controls. The SACLOS control method was therefore used in later versions , in which only a control pad had to be held over the target in a video viewfinder.

Another problem arose from the time of 30 seconds that elapsed before the maximum range of three kilometers was reached and in which an attacked tank could take cover, smoke itself or even shoot back. The airspeed was therefore increased in later versions.

variants

9M14P1

• 9M14 Maljutka - warhead with 400 mm RHA penetration power ( AT-3 - Sagger )
  • 9M14 Maljutka MCLOS - 1963 ( AT-3A - Sagger A )
  • 9M14M Maljutka-M MCLOS - 1973, increased speed, weight 11 kg ( AT-3B - Sagger B )
  • 9M14P Maljutka-P - SACLOS control ( AT-3C - Sagger C )
    • 9M14P - 1969, reinforced warhead with 460 mm penetration
    • 9M14P1 - reinforced warhead 520 mm penetration, improvements against reactive armor

Derivatives

• 9M14-2M - Serbian Malyutka -2M from the manufacturer Krusik in MCLOS and SACLOS with a reinforced warhead 800 mm penetration
  • 9M14-2T - tandem shaped charge warhead 800 mm + reactive armor
  • 9M14-2F - thermobaric warhead against hardened point targets
• HJ-73 - Chinese Hongjian , Red Arrow 73
  • HJ-73 - MCLOS , 1979
  • HJ-73B - SACLOS
  • HJ-73C - SACLOS, optimized against reactive armor
• RAAD - Iran
• Susong-Po - North Korea
• POLK - Slovenia , corresponds to AT-3C
• Kuen Wu 1 - Taiwan

user

The 9M14 is used by the armies of Afghanistan , Algeria , Angola , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Bulgaria , PR China , Croatia , Cuba , Egypt , Ethiopia , Lebanon , Iran , Iraq , India , North Korea , Libya , Mozambique , Poland , Romania and Zambia , Slovenia , Syria , Taiwan , Uganda , Hungary and Vietnam .

literature

• AW Hull, DR Markov, SJ Zaloga : Soviet / Russian Armor and Artillery Design Practices 1945 to Present. Darlington Productions, 1999, ISBN 1-892848-01-5 .

Web links

Commons : 9K11 Maljutka  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Weapon Systems
• AT-3 SAGGER / HJ-73 Hongjian (Red Arrow) Anti-Tank Guided Missile. fas.org, accessed on August 27, 2018 .