(missile whooshing)
- [Narrator] This Starstreak missile
travels over three times the speed of sound
and, following a decades-long hiatus,
it's going into reproduction
after the UK sent stockpiles of the Cold War era weapon
to Ukraine.
This lightweight man-portable air defense system
is a short-range missile
that can travel approximately 4.3 miles
and shoot down aircraft like drones,
fighter ground attack planes, and helicopters.
That's why the Starstreak may be most useful
along the front lines.
Ukrainian soldiers leave the bubble of protection
provided from long-range missiles as they advance,
but they can carry the lightweight Starstreak missiles
with them or equip them on tanks
like the British Alvis Stormer.
Here's how the missile works
and how it can uniquely equip Ukraine's air defense.
At roughly 2300 miles per hour,
the Starstreak travels
100 miles per hour faster than the Stinger,
a similar US missile.
At that speed,
targets likely don't have enough time to react
and evade the missile,
making the Starstreak potentially more lethal.
Targets also have to withstand being hit
by not just one warhead, but three.
Unlike the Stinger and other missiles in this class,
the Starstreak releases three tungsten darts
toward the target after it's launched.
Having three darts accounts for warhead failure.
Even if one dart is defective, there are still two others.
Once the darts reach the target,
they embed themselves into it and explode.
This maximizes the chance that the target will be destroyed.
But the key distinguishing factor between the Starstreak
and other man-portable missiles is its guidance system.
Most, including the Stinger, are heat-seeking,
meaning they use infrared systems to track the target.
But heat-seeking missiles are susceptible to countermeasures
like flares.
Because these other missiles track the hottest object,
setting off flares can guide the missile away from the heat
of the aircraft's engine
and towards the flare instead.
But the Starstreak is not heat-seeking, it's laser-guided.
After launching the missile,
the gunman projects a laser beam onto the target
for the three darts to follow.
This laser-guided system is precise
and means the Starstreak can't be jammed or decoyed.
But compared to fire and forget missiles like the Stinger,
the Starstreak requires more training to use
and puts a greater burden on the operator.
And this manual tracking means it's more effective
for slower moving targets.
As long as Russia believes Ukraine has Starstreak missiles,
it may be less willing to fly into Ukraine's airspace
for fear of getting shot down.
And the Starstreak is uniquely equipped
to handle the newer tactics deployed on the front lines,
including drones.
Because of their low heat signature,
drones can evade heat-seeking missiles
but they're easily taken down by Starstreak missiles
if operators can spot them.
Yet, training soldiers on the Starstreak
isn't the greatest obstacle for Ukraine.
The main issue is simply supply.
The Starstreak was designed
by the Irish arms maker Short Brothers in the 1980s
for the British government during the Cold War.
It didn't see active service until 2003 in the Iraq War.
Then, in 2012, it went out of mass production.
But that same year,
soldiers in London were equipped with Starstreak missiles
to protect the city in case of an attack
during the Olympics.
Experts believed production stopped
because the man-portable missiles
like Starstreak and Stinger missiles
were thought to be less crucial
for the defense needs of the UK and the US at the time.
But Britain retained its stockpile.
After the UK and US denied Ukraine's request
to create a no-fly zone over the country,
the UK sent these missiles to help keep Ukraine's airspace
clear from Russian aircraft.
- So in response to Ukrainian request,
the government has taken the decision
to explore the donation of Starstreak high velocity
man-portable anti-air missiles.
- [Narrator] This renewed demand
has led the French weapons manufacturer Thales
to renew its production of Starstreak missiles.
But like many weapons manufacturers,
Thales has supply chain issues.
These complications mean relaunching the Starstreak
could take over a year.
Since last March,
the UK has sent numerous air defense systems
and over 10,000 missiles,
though the exact number of Starstreak missiles is unknown.
It's also unclear
how many Starstreak missiles Ukraine has left
or when it will get more.
But experts say that the country is strategically quiet
about its air defense systems.
Starstreak missiles
are just one kind of man-portable missile,
which is just one type of short-range missile,
which is just one method of air defense.
Experts say it's best practice to have multiple options
to solve the same problem
which is why Ukraine has asked for a variety of weapons.
(Volodymyr speaking in foreign language)
(mid tempo music)