9K32 Strela-2

Strela-2
9K32M Strela-2M
General Information
Type	Anti-aircraft missile
Local name	9K32 Strela-2, 9K32M Strela-2M, 9K32MF Strela-2MF
NATO designation	SA-7A Grail, SA-7B Grail, SA-N-5 Grail
Country of origin	Soviet Union
Manufacturer	Design office KBM
development	1960
Commissioning	1968
Technical specifications
length	1,443 m
diameter	72.2 mm
Combat weight	Strela-2 : 9.2 kg Strela-2M : 9.6 kg
span	300 mm
drive	Solid - rocket engine
speed	430 m / s
Range	Strela-2 : 0.6-3.4 km Strela-2M : 0.5-4.2 km
Service ceiling	Strela-2 : 50-1,500m Strela-2M : 50-2,300m
Furnishing
Target location	passive- IR
Warhead	1.17 kg FRAG-HE
Detonator	Impact fuse
Lists on the subject

The 9K32 Strela-2 ( Russian : Стрела-2 ) is a shoulder-mounted short-range surface-to-air missile from Soviet production. The NATO code name is SA-7 Grail . It is the Soviet / Russian counterpart to the American FIM-43 Redeye . It is still in use today and is the most widely used and widely used anti-aircraft missile in the world.

development

The country of origin is the Soviet Union , where the anti-aircraft missile was manufactured as the Strela-2 from 1968. The infrared seeker head was not very reliable and was often deflected by the sun or heat from the ground. From 1972 it was replaced by the better Strela-2M (NATO code name: SA-7B , GRAU index 9K32M ), which became the most widespread model. The rocket drive was improved, which enabled higher speed and effective range , and a new IR seeker head was introduced.

The Strela-2 is now considered obsolete, but can still be found in different variations around the world. With the 9K34 Strela-3 (NATO code name: SA-14 Gremlin) there has been a more modern and somewhat more powerful successor since 1978, which does not differ from the Strela-2 in terms of construction and appearance. Other similar successor developments are 9K310 Igla-1 and 9K38 Igla .

function

Polish soldier with a Strela-2 and an IFF receiver on the front of the helmet

The system consists of the rocket (9M32 or 9M32M), a launch tube including a visor and a handle with integrated electronics (GRAY index 9P54 & 9P54M) and a thermoelectric battery (GRAY index 9B17). In addition, an IFF receiver (Identification Friend or Foe - identification friend or foe ) are mounted on the helmet of protection to avoid friendly fire. A passive antenna that emits acoustic signals into the shooter's headphones is used to discover and capture a target.

The rocket is ready to fire within six seconds: after switching on the power supply, the shooter follows the target with the optical viewfinder and pulls the trigger on the handle. This activates the seeker head and the electronics attempt to lock onto the target. If the signal is strong enough and the angular speed is within the permissible range, this is indicated by a red lamp and a buzzing signal. The shooter must now pursue the target for another 0.8 seconds until the missile ignites. A failed intrusion is marked by a different tone, after which the shooter can aim again.

When starting, the booster motor in the starter tube burns down completely; it accelerates the rocket to 30 meters per second (m / s) and a rotation of 20 revolutions per second (r / s). After leaving the pipe, the front and rear guide surfaces fold out from a 30 cm span. A self-destruct mechanism is also activated, which prevents an impact on the ground if no target is hit after 17 seconds.

After about 0.3 seconds, the rocket motor ignites about 5 meters away, accelerating the missile to 430 m / s and then holding it at this speed. After about 120 meters, the last safety mechanism is switched off and the warhead is armed.

The infrared seeker head uses a lead sulfide semiconductor and reacts to IR radiation between 0.2 and 1.5 µm wavelength. It has a viewing angle of 1.9 degrees and can follow the target at 9 degrees per second. The electronics calculate the angular velocity of the target and send control commands to bring the difference to zero.

The warhead ignites on impact on the target. It cannot destroy an aircraft as a whole, but only damage the tanks, control elements or the drive in such a way that it becomes incapable of flight or the mission has to be stopped at short notice.

The marine version of the Strela-2 MF (SA-N-5 Grail) is available on numerous ships as additional defense (e.g. dropships of Project 775 , 4 × four-tube launchers), whereby the small warhead and the activation time make it suitable for missile defense is rather not given.

commitment

Soviet soldier with Strela-2

Effects of a hit on an F / A-18. The left engine nozzle was hit, although the aircraft remained airworthy.

The Strela-2 is particularly widespread in former Warsaw Pact states and has often been copied and modified. The armies of a number of states use them to this day. In the course of the reunification of Germany , the holdings of the NVA were taken over by the Bundeswehr , especially for the Army Air Defense Force .

The weapon has been used in a number of conflicts. The first use is reported from 1969 in the War of Attrition as part of the Middle East War - by June 1970 the Egyptian army fired 99 rockets and scored 36 hits on Israeli warplanes. In 1974 Syrian forces scored eleven hits against Israel, the number of weapons used is unknown.

Strela-2 was also available to North Vietnamese forces in the late phase of the Vietnam War , where the more modern Strela-2M scored 204 hits in 589 missions against US warplanes between 1972 and 1975.

The weapon was also used towards the end of the Portuguese colonial war. In Guinea-Bissau, rebel groups succeeded in March 1973 in using Strela-2 missiles to shoot down two Fiat G.91 fighter-bombers as well as two Dornier Do-27 reconnaissance aircraft and a North American T-6 , which ended the Portuguese air superiority and ultimately led to the collapse of colonial rule.

During the siege of Sarajevo , an Air Force transport aircraft of the type Transall C-160 was shot at and seriously damaged, and one crew member was seriously injured. The crew landed safely in Zagreb.

On November 28, 2002, a Boeing 757 operated by the Israeli airline Arkia Israeli Airlines narrowly escaped an attack: Shortly after taking off from Mombasa , Kenya, two Strela-2 rockets were fired at the 271-person aircraft. The missiles missed the target, however.

On November 2, 2003, a US CH-47 “Chinook” transport helicopter was hit near Fallujah by two Iraqi Strela-2s. The helicopter crashed and 15 US soldiers died.

Because of the threat to civil aviation, there have been several discussions in the USA about making defensive systems such as flares mandatory for airlines . However, these have so far resisted on the grounds that the high costs would mean competitive disadvantages.

Versions used

Russia

• 9K32 Strela-2 (SA-7A Grail): 1st series version
• 9K32E Strela-2E (SA-7A Grail): Simplified export version of the 9K32
• 9K32M Strela-2M (SA-7B Grail): 2nd serial version with improved seeker head
• 9K32ME Strela-2ME (SA-7B Grail): Simplified export version of the 9K32M
• 9K32MW Strela-2MW (SA-7B Grail): Version for air-to-air use from helicopters
• 9K32M2 Strela-2M2 (SA-7C Grail): Version with the seeker head of the 9K34 Strela-3 .
• 9K32MF Strela-2MF (SA-N-5 Grail): Version for naval forces

China

• HN-5A : Version of the 9M32M with a cooled seeker head and a new warhead
• HN-5B : Version of the 9M32M with improved, cooled seeker head

Anza Mk.2

Pakistan

• Anza Mk.1: License production of the 9K32
• Anza Mk.2: License production of the 9K32M
• Anza Mk.3: Version of the 9M32M with improved, cooled seeker head

Egypt

• SAKR EYE: Version of the 9K32M with a new digital search head from the franz. Thomson-CSF company

Romania

• CA-94 : License production of the 9K32
• CA-94M: Version of 9K32M with a new, digitally operating search head of the Romanian defense companies Electromecanica Ploiesti was developed

Serbia

• Strela-2MA: Version of the 9M32M with an improved, cooled seeker head and a new warhead

User states

The Fliegerfaust STRELA was taken over by the German Armed Forces as Fliegerfaust 1, especially for shooting training ( familiarization shooting) from GDR stocks

Egypt  Botswana  Burkina Faso  Germany  German Democratic Republic  Eritrea  Guinea  Iraq  Ireland  Yemen  Jordan  Kyrgyzstan

Cuba  Kuwait  Laos  Lebanon  Libya  Mali  Morocco  Mauritania  Mongolia  Nicaragua  North Korea  Oman

Poland  Pakistan  Romania  Russia  Zimbabwe  Sudan  Syria  Hungary  Cyprus  Yugoslavia

See also

• List of surface-to-air missiles

literature

• Land-Based Air Defense Edition 2005. Jane's Verlag.
• The SA-17 GRAIL surface-to-air missile system. DTIG - Defense Threat Information Group.
• Michal Fiszer, Jerzy Gruszczynski: On Arrows and Needles. Journal of Electronic Defense (JED), December 2002.

Web links

Commons : Strela-2  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Abstract of a TV report on the threat to civil aviation ( Memento from December 14, 2007 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Michal Fiszer & Jerzy Gruszczynski: On Arrows and Needles . Journal of Electronic Defense (JED), December 2002.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} 9K32M Strela-2M anti-aircraft missile complex. In: rwd-mb3.de. Missile and Weapons Service in Kdo.MB III, accessed on October 24, 2019 . 
3. ↑ www.streitkraeftebasis.de: Strela on the Todendorf training ground and www.Streitkräftebasis.de Info flyer Todendorf  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ^ Hans-Werner Ahrens: The airlift to Sarajevo 1992 to 1996 . 1st edition. Rombach, Freiburg im Breisgau, Berlin, Vienna 2012, ISBN 978-3-7930-9695-5 , pp. 149-163 .
5. ↑ www.flightglobal: Arkia 757 avoids missile attack and BBC News: Kenyan police find Mombasa missiles.
6. ↑ Representation on the manufacturer's website Electromecanica Ploiesti SA