9K34 Strela-3

9K34 Strela-3
General Information
Type	Shoulder-mounted surface-to-air missile
Local name	9K34 Strela-3, 9K34F Strela-3F
NATO designation	SA-14 Gremlin, SA-N-8 Gremlin
Country of origin	Soviet Union
Manufacturer	KBM design office , Kolomna
development	1970
Commissioning	1974
Working time	In service
Technical specifications
length	1.42 m
diameter	72 mm
Combat weight	10.3 kg
span	305 mm
drive	Solid - rocket engine
speed	430-470 m / s
Range	4.3 km
Service ceiling	3.0 km
Furnishing
steering	Inertial navigation platform
Target location	Passive IR , 3.5-5.0 µm bandwidth
Warhead	1.8 kg fragmentation warhead
Detonator	Impact fuse
Lists on the subject

The 9K43 Strela-3 ( Russian Стрела-3 'arrow') is the name of a shoulder-supported short-range surface-to-air missile from Soviet or Russian production. The NATO code name is SA-14 Gremlin .

development

The 9K43 Strela-3 was developed in the Soviet Union as the successor to the 9K32 Strela-2 . It became clear early on that the Strela-2's weak point was its seeker head and its sensitivity to defensive measures. The Strela-3 was therefore developed from 1970 and introduced into the Soviet Army in 1974 . The Strela-3 is used by ground troops to defend against helicopters and ground attack aircraft. It is operated by two soldiers (rifleman, fire chief) and pursues its targets with an infrared heat seeker.

The main difference to the Strela-2 is the new seeker head, which should guarantee better target acquisition and tracking and minimize the weak points of the previous model. The Strela-3 thus represents one of the greatest threats to combat helicopters and ground attack aircraft (such as the Fairchild-Republic A-10 or Sukhoi Su-25 ) alongside the successor models Igla-1 and Igla , as it can be easily transported and fired by infantrymen, whatever making it difficult to combat.

Unlike radar-based systems, the missile's passive heat seeker allows it to be launched without any telltale prior signals; their smoke trail is usually the first warning for pilots. Modern helicopters therefore often have several IR or UV sensors attached to the fuselage, which are intended to detect the smoke trail of such rockets using heat or ultraviolet radiation, so that decoys can then be ejected, for example (partially automated). Much of the US helicopters and airplanes shot down or damaged in Iraq are due to fire from Strela-3 and related models.

technology

The Strela-3 9K34 is a shoulder-based air defense system (MANPADS) that consists of the following three main components:

• 9P59 - Launcher and target acquisition system (missile container, launcher)
• 9P51 - heat battery and gas container (serve to supply energy and cool the missile seeker head for target acquisition)
• 9M36 missile

The 9M36 missile is housed in a sealed 9P59 - GRP transport and launch container. At the launch canister that is 9P85M -Griffstück with integrated electronics, 9P51 - thermoelectric battery and a sighting device with daylight aiming optics mounted. The Strela-3 weighs 16 kg ready to go. At the sight, the 1L13 - friend or foe recognition system can be connected. The 9M36 guided missile is equipped with a passive infrared seeker head from LOMO . The seeker uses a lead sulfide - Semiconductors and responds to IR radiation from 3 to 5 microns wavelength. Before starting, the seeker head is cooled with liquid nitrogen . Compared to the previous model Strela-2, the sensitivity of the seeker head to opposing defensive measures has been reduced, for example by installing optical filters that filter out decoys and thus ensure a higher hit probability. The seeker head now also enables the detection of frontal approaching targets. The fragmentation warhead weighs 1.17 kg and is detonated by an impact fuse. that is, the missile must hit the target directly. One serves as a drive solid - rocket motor is ignited, when the ejected by a gas charge missile, the launch tube has left a few meters. The target tracking by the missile is based on the principle of proportional navigation , i.e. H. the electronics calculate the angular velocity of the target and send control commands to bring the difference to zero. If the missile misses the target, it destroys itself after a certain flight time.

The Strela-3 works on the fire-and-forget principle, i. H. after firing, the missile pursues its target independently. The Strela-3 can be used to fight aircraft, helicopters and drones . The vertical range of application of the guided weapon is 30 to 3,000 m with a horizontal combat range of 0.5 to 4.3 km. Air targets approaching from the front can be fought up to a flight speed of 260 m / s. The maximum airspeed for combating departing air targets is 310 m / s.

commitment

On September 20, 2002, an Iraqi MiG-23 took off from the Al Bakr base and deviated from course with bombs during a training mission. The pilot attempted to attack the Maqar al-Thartar Palace, where Saddam Hussein was at the time. The life guards prevented the attack and shot down the jet with a Strela-3.

In November 2003, a Strela-3 was on a cargo plane Airbus A300 of DHL fired shortly after this from the airport in Baghdad had lifted. At an altitude of around 2,400 meters, the Strela-3 hit the winglet of the left wing, damaged the slats and the A1 tank and caused a fire. A loss of pressure on the three hydraulic systems led to the complete loss of control. Nevertheless, the crew managed to steer the aircraft back to the runway only by regulating the thrust ratios of the engines and to leave it there unharmed, albeit after a crash landing. The incident received a lot of attention in aviation circles.

In the spring of 2007 it became known that US helicopters were increasingly being targeted during the Iraq war , with the Strela-3 being used most recently, while at most the older Strela-2 were suspected to be in the hands of the insurgents. The weapons from former Eastern Bloc countries got into the hands of Iraqi fighters via Syria, which was also announced by voices from the former, now banned Baath party .

distribution

•  Angola
•  Armenia
•  Azerbaijan
•  Bulgaria
•  El Salvador
•  India
•  Iraq
•  Jordan
•  Cuba
•  Kazakhstan
•  Kyrgyzstan
•  Mauritania
•  Moldova
•  Mongolia
•  Nicaragua
•  Poland
•  Peru
•  Russia
•  Serbia
•  Slovakia
•  Slovenia
•  Syria
•  Tajikistan
•  Tanzania
•  Czech Republic
•  Turkmenistan
•  Ukraine
•  Uzbekistan
•  United Arab Emirates

See also

• List of surface-to-air missiles

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Militaryrussia.ru: 9К34 Стрела-3 - SA-14 GREMLIN (Russian)
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Michal Fiszer & Jerzy Gruszczynski: On Arrows and Needles . Journal of Electronic Defense (JED), December 2002.
3. ^ ASN Aircraft accident Airbus A300B4-203F OO-DLL Baghdad International Airport (BGW). In: aviation-safety.net. Retrieved July 31, 2016 (Criminal Occurrence description). 
4. ^ Civilian plane hit by missile over Baghdad. In: smh.com.au. November 22, 2003, accessed July 31, 2016 . 
5. ↑ Phillip Wittrock: New strategy: Iraqi terrorists target US helicopters. In: spiegel.de. February 22, 2007, accessed July 31, 2016 . 

literature

• Sergei I. Petuchow, IW Schestow: History of design and development of missile systems and military systems of AAW of Russian Land Forces . WPK, 1998.

Web links

Commons : Strela-3  - collection of images, videos and audio files