It is evident that the performance of the Russian Air Force has not been as dominant
as expected and now the situation could get more difficult.
Russian aircraft and helicopters will have to watch out for a new weapon.
Ukraine has received a shipment from Germany, including the delivery of 1,500 units of the
Soviet hand-held surface-to-air missile system 9K32 Strela-2, as well as 100 MG3 machine
guns.
Another 1,200 units of Soviet 9K32 Strela-2 MANPADS will be delivered in the coming weeks.
Soviet-era Strela-2 is the latest addition to the list of mobile air defense weapons
being made available to Ukraine which includes Singer and StarStreak.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how Germany's delivery of Soviet 9K32 Strela-2
would sting Russia?
Let's get started.
Strela-2 development has its roots in the Cold War.
The end of World War II led to a major shift in Soviet defense policy.
The advent of long-range, high altitude, nuclear-armed American bombers, capable of penetrating Soviet
airspace at heights and speeds unreachable and unmatchable by anti-aircraft guns and
most interceptors, appeared to render every conventional weapon obsolete at a stroke.
Numerous long-range, high-altitude SAM systems, such as the S-25 Berkut and S-75 Dvina, were
rapidly developed and fielded to counter this large vulnerability.
Due to the apparent "obsolescence" of conventional arms, however, relatively little development
took place to field mobile battlefield air defenses.
This direction was soon changed with the beginning of the Korean War.
An entirely conventional conflict, it proved that nuclear weapons were not the be-all and
end-all of warfare.
In the face of a powerful and modern American air force, carrying non-nuclear payloads,
the Soviet Union invested heavily in a multi-tier air defense system, consisting of several
new mobile SAMs.
Strela-2 was designed as a Battalion-level man-portable air defense weapon.
It has been exported to Warsaw Pact countries, Soviet allies and countries, where Soviet
influence has spread.
Strela-2 is no longer used by the Russian Army.
However, it is still used by a number of countries.
The Strela-2 (Arrow-2) was the first generation of Soviet shoulder-launcher air defense missiles.
It is a clone of the US FIM-43 Red Eye.
The shoulder-launcher Strela-2 has nothing in common with the previous vehicle-mounted
Strela-1.
Strela-2 was officially adopted in 1968.
Its Western reporting name is SA-7 or Grail.
Full-rate production commenced in 1970.
The weapon is almost a legend and can wreak havoc even after 5 decades.
This Man-Portable Air Defense System (MANPADS) was designed to engage aircraft and helicopters.
However, this old system can not engage drones.
The maximum range of fire is 3.6 km or 2.2 miles.
The maximum altitude is 2 km or 1.25 miles.
The performance of the Strela-2 is broadly similar to that of the FIM-43 Red Eye.
The 9M32 missile has an infrared seeker.
It was designed to see infrared energy and guide itself on very hot surfaces, such as
aircraft's heat signature, and particularly inside of a jet engine.
The missile explodes on contact.
If it misses, the missile self-destructs.
When launched at an aircraft, the Strela-2 is most effective in tail-chase engagements.
Hit probability with a single missile against an unprotected target is only around 10-20%.
This number is reduced if the target uses countermeasures, such as chaffs and flares.
The Strela-2 is not protected against these countermeasures.
Also in some cases, the missile proved to be vulnerable to background interference,
sun, clouds and horizon.
So by modern standards, its performance is poor.
However, at the time of its introduction in the late 1960s, such a hit ratio was acceptable.
The operation of the Strela-2 is similar to other MANPAD systems such as the Red Eye or
Stinger.
The missile is inserted into the launcher prior to launch.
The launcher can be reloaded up to 5 times.
After that, it is disposed of.
The minimum launch time from carrying position to launch is 13 seconds.
Once the launcher is on the shoulder, covers are removed and sights are extended, time
to launch is reduced to 6-10 seconds.
It takes around 25 seconds to reload the launcher.
MANPADS are relatively simple weapons but can punch above their weights.
In late 1985, several groups, such as Free the Eagle, began arguing the CIA was not doing
enough to support the Mujahideen in the Soviet-Afghan War.
Michael Pillsbury, Vincent Cannistraro, and others put enormous bureaucratic pressure
on the CIA to provide the Stinger to the rebels.
Eventually, the weapon was provided.
According to the 1993 US US Air Defense Artillery Yearbook, the Mujahideen gunners used the
supplied Stingers to score approximately 269 total aircraft kills in about 340 engagements,
a 79% kill probability.
While the extent of the impact of the Stinger on the outcome of the war is contested, there
is no doubt it created massive pressure on the Soviet leadership because of increased
losses in both men and material after its introduction.
Like the Mujahideens, the Ukrainian forces are getting easy-to-use weapons that can inflict
disproportionate damage.
Even if Ukraine uses up 5-6 of Strela-2 for a single successful hit, it is still a win
for them.
In certain cases, the Strela-2 could be used in conjunction with Stingers and StarTrek
to complicate matters for Russian forces.