Strela 2
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The 9K32 "Strela-2" (Russian 9К32 "Cтрела-2" - arrow, (NATO reporting name SA-7 Grail) is a man-portable, shoulder-fired, low-altitude surface-to-air missile system with a high explosive warhead and passive infrared homing guidance. It is broadly comparable to the US Army FIM-43 Redeye. It was the first generation of Soviet man portable SAMs, entering service in 1968, with series production starting in 1970 [1]. The 9K32M "Strela-2M" (NATO reporting name SA-7b "Grail" Mod 1) was introduced in 1971 [2] and featured a number of improvements, increasing both its range and the size of its warhead. The SA-7 is a tail-chase missile system and its effectiveness depends on its ability to lock onto the heat source of low-flying fixed and rotary-wing aircraft. The missile's simple infra-red seeker mechanism is easily overwhelmed by simple countermeasures like flares, and pulsing "hot brick" jammers, and even environmental effects like infra-red reflections from clouds. Despite its shortcomings it did force enemy pilots to fly higher, into the engagement envelope of more capable air defence systems. In addition, in several cases it has forced enemy pilots to adopt higher altitude bombing tactics, which degraded the accuracy and usefulness of air strikes [1].
Development
 In the immediate post-WWII period the Soviet air defence doctrine had placed a heavy emphasis on national air defence against nuclear-armed bombers. Numerous long-range, high-altitude SAM systems were developed to counter this threat, but in the meanwhile relatively little development took place in mobile battlefield air defences able to move with army maneuver elements and defend them against low-altitude air attack in a conventional war. The Korean war showed that the era of conventional war was far from over, and the Soviet Union responded with a 10-year plan that called for several mobile battlefield air defence systems to create a multi-tier system to cover all altitude ranges. The new doctrine listed 5 new requirements:
Both Strela-1 and Strela-2 were initially intended to be man-portable systems. However, as the Strela-2 proved to be considerably smaller and lighter system, the specifications of the Strela-1 were changed, calling for a heavier vehicle-mounted missile of higher performance to support the ZSU-23-4 gun systems in the regimental air defence role. As development began in the Turopov OKB (later changed to Kolomna), the detailed information of the US FIM-43 Redeye became available. While it was by no means a simple reverse-engineered copy, in many ways the Strela design borrowed heavily from the Redeye, with which it was developed simultaneously. Development was protracted and many difficulties were faced in designing a sufficiently small seeker head and rocket. Eventually the designers had to settle for a simpler seeker head than that of the Redeye. The initial version the 9K32 "Strela-2" (US DoD designation SA-7A, missile round 9M32) finally entered service in 1968, 5 years behind schedule. The Strela-2 was quickly followed by the slightly improved version "Strela-2M" (US DoD designation SA-7B, missile round 9M32M) in 1970, and then a more radical improvement, the 9K36 "Strela-3" (NATO reporting name SA-14 "Gremlin", missile round 9M36). There is a naval version of this missile. Its NATO reporting name is SA-N-5. Combat useThe missile has seen use in a large number of conflicts. Jane's credits the first combat use of the missile as being in 1969 during the War of Attrition by Egyptian soldiers. Between this first firing and June 1970 the Egyptian army fired 99 missiles resulting in 36 hits. Syrian forces shot down 11 Israel aircraft with an unspecified number of missiles in 1974.[citation needed] The system was also given to North Vietnam forces, where along with the more advanced Strela-2M it achieved 204 hits out of 589 firings between 1972 and 1975. Two missiles were fired during the 2002 Mombasa attacks both missing a Boeing 757. A missile was fired on a DHL airbus leaving Baghdad in 2003, striking and forcing it to crash land. DescriptionThe missile launcher system consists of the green reloadable missile launch tube containing the missile, a grip stock and a cylindrical thermal battery. The missile can be made ready to fire in between four and six seconds. After activating the power supply to the missile electronics, the gunner pulls the trigger on the grip stock while tracking the target in the launchers optical sights, this activates the seeker electronics and the missile attempts to lock onto the target. If the target is producing a strong enough signal and the angular tracking rate is with acceptable launch parameters, the missile alerts the gunner that the target is locked on by illuminating a red light in the sight mechanism, and producing a constant buzzing noise. The operator then has 0.8 seconds to provide lead to the target while the missiles on-board power supply is activated and the booster motor ignited Should the target be outside acceptable parameters then the light cue in the sight and buzzer signal tell the gunner to re-aim the missile. On launch, the booster burns out before the missile leaves the launch tube, taking it to a speed of around 30 meters per second, and rotating the missile at approximately 20 revolutions per second. As the missile leaves the tube the two forward steering fins unfold, as do the four rear stabilizing tail fins. The self-destruct mechanism is then armed, which is set to destroy the missile after between 14 and 17 seconds to prevent it hitting the ground if it should miss the target. Once the missile is five and half meters away from the gunner, approximately 0.3 seconds after leaving the launch tube it activates the rocket sustainer motor. The sustainer motor takes it to a velocity of 430 meters per second, and sustains it at this speed. Once it reaches peak speed at a distance of around 120 meters from the gunner, the final safety mechanism is disabled and the missile is fully armed. The missile's uncooled lead sulphide passive infra-red seeker head detects heat emissions between 0.2 and 1.5 μm in wavelength. It has a 1.9 degree field of view and can track at 9 degrees per second. The guidance system uses AM tracking logic that constantly monitors the angular velocity of the tracked target and issues steering commands to attempt to zero the velocity difference. Versions
Operators
ReferencesExternal linksTraining of Czech Air defence units - video
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