Man-portable air-defence system - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS or MPADS) are shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile

Surface-to-air missile

A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...

s (SAMs). They are typically guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

, especially helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

Overview

MANPADS were originally developed in the late 1950s to provide military ground forces protection from enemy aircraft. They have received a great deal of attention as potential terrorist weapons that might be used against commercial airliners. These missiles, affordable and widely available through a variety of sources, have been used successfully over the past three decades both in military conflicts, as well as by terrorist organizations.

They can be purchased on the black market anywhere from a few hundred dollars (USD) for older models to upwards of almost a quarter million dollars for newer, more capable models. Twenty-five countries, including the United States, produce man-portable air defense systems. Possession, export, and trafficking in such weapons is officially tightly controlled, due to the threat they pose to civil aviation

Civil aviation

Civil aviation is one of two major categories of flying, representing all non-military aviation, both private and commercial. Most of the countries in the world are members of the International Civil Aviation Organization and work together to establish common standards and recommended practices...

, although such efforts have not always been successful.

The missiles are about 5 to 6 feet (182.9 cm) in length and weigh about 35 to 40 pounds (18.1 kg), depending on the model. Shoulder-fired SAMs generally have a target detection range of about 6 miles (10 km) and an engagement range of about 4 miles (6 km), so aircraft flying at 20000 feet (6,096 m) (3.8 miles) or higher are relatively safe. The acronym MANPADS is commonly mistaken to have a singular form of "MANPAD"—this is incorrect, as even a singular unit is still a system and would have the final S in the acronym.

Missile types

Unguided

In 1944, Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

was desperately short of mobile air-defense weapons. Borrowing from the concept of the simple and effective anti-tank Panzerfaust

Panzerfaust

The Panzerfaust was an inexpensive, recoilless German anti-tank weapon of World War II. It consisted of a small, disposable preloaded launch tube firing a high explosive anti-tank warhead, operated by a single soldier...

, an unguided multibarreled 20mm rocket launcher, the Fliegerfaust

Fliegerfaust

The Fliegerfaust , also known as the "Luftfaust" , was a prototype unguided German multi-barreled ground-to-air rocket launcher designed to destroy enemy ground attack planes.- Overview :...

, was developed. The weapon never reached mass production due to the end of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Following World War II, Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

designers also experimented with unguided multibarreled rocket launchers but this design concept was abandoned in favor of guided missiles equipped with an infrared

Infrared

Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...

sensor.

Infrared

Infrared shoulder-fired missiles are designed to home-in on a heat source on an aircraft, typically the engine

Jet engine

A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...

exhaust plume, and detonate a warhead

Warhead

The term warhead refers to the explosive material and detonator that is delivered by a missile, rocket, or torpedo.- Etymology :During the early development of naval torpedoes, they could be equipped with an inert payload that was intended for use during training, test firing and exercises. This...

in or near the heat source to disable the aircraft. These missiles use passive guidance

Missile guidance

Missile guidance refers to a variety of methods of guiding a missile or a guided bomb to its intended target. The missile's target accuracy is a critical factor for its effectiveness...

, meaning that they do not emit signals to detect a heat source, which makes them difficult to detect by targeted aircraft employing countermeasure systems.

First generation

The first missiles deployed in the 1960s were infrared missiles. First generation shoulder-fired SAMs such as the U.S. Redeye

FIM-43 Redeye

The General Dynamics FIM-43 Redeye was a man-portable surface-to-air missile system. It used infrared homing to track its target. Production was terminated in September 1969 after about 85,000 rounds had been built - in anticipation of the Redeye II, which later became the FIM-92 Stinger...

, early versions of the Soviet SA-7, and the Chinese HN-5

Anza (missile)

Anza is a series of shoulder-fired, man-portable surface-to-air missiles produced by Pakistan. Guided by an infra-red homing seeker, Anza is used for low level air defence....

are considered “tail-chase weapons” as their seekers

Infrared homing

Infrared homing refers to a passive missile guidance system which uses the emission from a target of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared part of the spectrum to track and follow it. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers", since infrared is just below the...

can only acquire and engage a high performance aircraft after it has passed the missile’s firing position. In this flight profile, the aircraft’s engines are fully exposed to the missile’s seeker and provide a sufficient thermal signature for engagement. First generation IR missiles are also highly susceptible to interfering thermal signatures from background sources, including the sun, which many experts feel makes them somewhat unreliable.

Second generation

Second generation infrared missiles such as early versions of the U.S. Stinger

FIM-92 Stinger

The FIM-92 Stinger is a personal portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile , which can be adapted to fire from ground vehicles and helicopters , developed in the United States and entered into service in 1981. Used by the militaries of the U.S...

, the Soviet SA-14, and the Chinese FN-6

FN-6

FN-6 , also known as the HY-6, is a third generation passive infrared man portable air defence system. It was developed by China, and is their most advanced surface-to-air missile offered in the international market. Specially designed to engage low flying targets, it has a range of 6 km and...

use improved coolants to cool the seeker head which enables the seeker to filter out most interfering background IR sources as well as permitting head-on and side engagement profiles. These missiles may also employ technologies to counter decoy flares

Flare (countermeasure)

A flare is an aerial infrared countermeasure to counter an infrared homing surface-to-air missile or air-to-air missile. Flares are commonly composed of a pyrotechnic composition based on magnesium or another hot-burning metal, with burning temperature equal to or hotter than engine exhaust...

that might be deployed by targeted aircraft and also have backup target detection modes such as the ultraviolet

Ultraviolet

Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV...

(UV) mode found on the Stinger missile.

Third generation

Third generation infrared shoulder-fired SAMs such as the French Mistral

Mistral missile

Mistral is an infrared homing surface-to-air missile manufactured by the European multinational company MBDA missile systems . Based on the French SATCP , the portable missile later to become the Mistral began development in 1974...

, the Russian SA-18

SA-18 Grouse

The 9K38 Igla is a Russian/Soviet man-portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile . "9K38" is the Russian GRAU designation of the system...

, and the U.S. Stinger B

FIM-92 Stinger

use single or multiple detectors to produce a quasi-image of the target and also have the ability to recognize and reject flares dispensed from aircraft.

Fourth generation

Fourth generation missiles such as the U.S. Stinger Block 2

FIM-92 Stinger

, and missiles believed to be under development in Russia, Japan, France, and Israel could incorporate focal plane array guidance systems and other advanced sensor systems which will permit engagement at greater ranges.

Command line-of-sight

Missile guidance

Missile guidance refers to a variety of methods of guiding a missile or a guided bomb to its intended target. The missile's target accuracy is a critical factor for its effectiveness...

(CLOS) missiles do not home in on a particular aspect (heat source or radio or radar transmissions) of the targeted aircraft. Instead, the missile operator or gunner visually acquires the target using a magnified optical sight and then uses radio controls to “fly” the missile into the aircraft. One of the benefits of such a missile is that it is virtually immune to flares and other basic countermeasure systems which are designed primarily to defeat IR missiles. The major drawback of CLOS missiles is that they require highly trained and skilled operators. Numerous reports from the Soviet-Afghan War

Soviet war in Afghanistan

The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...

in the 1980s cite Afghan mujahedin as being disappointed with the British-supplied Blowpipe

Blowpipe missile

The Shorts Blowpipe is a man-portable surface-to-air missile which was in use with the British Army and Royal Marines from 1975. It was superseded by an interim design, Javelin, and later the greatly improved Starstreak missile.-Description:...

CLOS missile because it was too difficult to learn to use and highly inaccurate, particularly when employed against fast moving jet aircraft. Given these considerations, many experts believe that CLOS missiles are not as ideally suited for untrained personnel use as are IR missiles, which sometimes are referred to as “fire and forget” missiles.

Later versions of CLOS missiles, such as the British Javelin

Javelin surface-to-air missile

Javelin is a British, man-portable surface-to-air missile, formerly used by the British Army and Canadian Army. It can be fired from the shoulder, or from a dedicated launcher known as Javelin LML—Lightweight Multiple Launcher...

, use a solid state television camera in lieu of the optical tracker to make the gunner's task easier. The Javelin’s manufacturer, Thales Air Defence

Thales Air Defence

Thales Air Defence Limited, formerly Shorts Missile Systems, is a defence contractor based in Belfast, Northern Ireland producing short-range or close air defence missiles. The company has a turnover of approximately £70m and pre-tax profits of £7m....

claims that their missile is virtually impervious to countermeasures. Even more advanced CLOS versions, such as the British Starburst

Starburst surface-to-air missile

Starburst is a British man-portable surface-to-air missile produced by Shorts Missile Systems of Belfast . It is used by the British Army, Malaysian Army, and in the Canadian Army as the Javelin...

, use a laser data link in lieu of earlier radio guidance links to fly the missile to the target.

Laser guided

Laser guidance

Laser guidance is a technique of guiding a missile or other projectile or vehicle to a target by means of a laser beam. Some laser guided systems utilise beam riding guidance, but most operate more similarly to semi-active radar homing . This technique is sometimes called SALH, for Semi-Active...

shoulder-fired SAMs use lasers to guide the missiles to the target. The missile flies along the laser beam and strikes the aircraft where the missile operator or gunner aims the laser. Missiles such as Sweden’s RBS-70 and Britain’s Starstreak

Starstreak missile

Starstreak is a British short range surface-to-air missile manufactured by Thales Air Defence , in Belfast. It is also known as Starstreak HVM where HVM stands for "High Velocity Missile". After launch the missile accelerates to approximately Mach 3.5, at which point it launches three laser beam...

can engage aircraft from all angles and only require the operator to continuously track the target using a joystick to keep the laser aim point on the target. Because there are no data links from the ground to the missile, the missile cannot be effectively jammed after it is launched. This technique is known as beam riding

Beam riding

Beam-riding, also known as beam guidance, is a technique of directing a missile to its target by means of radar or a laser beam. The name refers to the way the missile flies down the guidance beam, which is aimed at the target...

. Future laser guided SAMs may require the operator to designate the target only once and not manually keep a continuous laser aimpoint on the aircraft. Even though laser guided missiles require relatively extensive training and skill to operate, many experts consider these missiles particularly menacing due to the missiles’ resistance to most conventional countermeasures in use today.

Notable uses against military aircraft

On September 21, 1991, during the Croatian war of independence
Croatian War of Independence
The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with the JNA ending its combat...

, a JNA Soko J-21 Jastreb
Soko J-21 Jastreb
|-See also:...

was shot down with a Strela 2M SAM.
During Operation Desert Storm on 17 February 1991 an F-16 was shot down by Strela-3. Russian sources also report about the loss of many military aircraft shot down by the Igla.
On April 6, 1994, a surface-to-air missile struck one of the wings of the Dassault Falcon 50
Dassault Falcon 50
|-See also:-References:* Taylor, John W R. . Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1988-89. Coulsdon, Surrey, UK:Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0-7106-0867-5.-External links:* *...

carrying three French crew and nine passengers, including Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana
Juvénal Habyarimana
Juvénal Habyarimana was the third President of the Republic of Rwanda, the post he held longer than any other president to date, from 1973 until 1994. During his 20-year rule he favored his own ethnic group, the Hutus, and supported the Hutu majority in neighboring Burundi against the Tutsi...

and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira
Cyprien Ntaryamira
Cyprien Ntaryamira , was President of Burundi from 5 February 1994 until his death when his plane was shot down on 6 April 1994.-Biography:...

, as it prepared to land in Kigali
Kigali
Kigali, population 965,398 , is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is situated near the geographic centre of the nation, and has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became capital at independence in 1962. The main residence and offices of the President of...

, Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

, before a second missile hit its tail. The plane erupted into flames in mid-air before crashing into the garden of the presidential palace, exploding on impact. This incident was the ignition spark of the Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...

.
2002 Khankala Mi-26 crash: On August 19, 2002, a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n-made Igla shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile
Surface-to-air missile
A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...

hit an overloaded Mil Mi-26
Mil Mi-26
The Mil Mi-26 is a Soviet/Russian heavy transport helicopter. In service with civilian and military operators, it is the largest and most powerful helicopter ever to have gone into production.-Design and development:...

helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

, causing it to crash in a minefield and burn at the main military base
Military base
A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. In general, a military base provides accommodations for one or more units, but it may also be used as a...

at Khankala near the capital city
Capital City
Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....

of Grozny
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...

, Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...

. 127 Russian troops and crew were killed.
Early in the 2008 South Ossetia War
2008 South Ossetia war
The 2008 South Ossetia War or Russo-Georgian War was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other....

a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

made Grom
Grom (missile)
The Grom is a man-portable air-defense system produced in Poland. It consists of a 72 mm anti-aircraft missile set with a flight speed of 650 m/s, as well as a single-use launcher, re-usable gripstock and thermal battery coolant assembly electric unit...

MANPADS shot down a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n Tu-22M strategic bomber. One of its crew members was captured (Major Vyacheslav Malkov), two others were killed and the crew commander is missing in action as of August 2009.

Notable uses against civilian aircraft

The 1978 Air Rhodesia Viscount Shootdown is the first example of a civilian airliner shot down by a man-portable surface to air missile. The pilot of the aircraft managed to make a controlled crash landing, however ten of the survivors were brutally murdered by ZIPRA
ZIPRA
Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army was the armed wing of the Zimbabwe African People's Union, a political party in Rhodesia. It participated in the Second Chimurenga against white minority rule in the former Rhodesia....

terrorists.
Air Rhodesia Flight 827
Air Rhodesia Flight RH827
Air Rhodesia Flight 827, the Umniati, was a scheduled flight RH827 between Kariba and Salisbury that was shot down on 12 February 1979 by ZIPRA terrorists using a Strela 2 missile soon after take-off...

was also shot down in February 1979 by ZIPRA
ZIPRA
Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army was the armed wing of the Zimbabwe African People's Union, a political party in Rhodesia. It participated in the Second Chimurenga against white minority rule in the former Rhodesia....

terrorists armed with a Strela 2
Strela 2
The 9K32 “Strela-2” is a man-portable, shoulder-fired, low-altitude surface-to-air missile system with a high explosive warhead and passive infrared homing guidance...

missile. All 59 passengers and crew were killed.
1993 Transair Georgian Airline shootdowns
Transair Georgian Airline Shootdowns (September 1993)
In September, 1993, three Tupolev civilian airliners belonging to Transair Georgia were hit by missiles fired by rebels in Sukhumi, Abkhazia, Georgia. 136 perished in the attacks.-21 September:...

involved two separate aircraft shot down a day apart in Sukhumi
Sukhumi
Sukhumi is the capital of Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. The city suffered heavily during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in the early 1990s.-Naming:...

, Abkhazia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...

, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

, killing 108 people.
1998 Lionair Flight LN 602 shootdown
Lionair Flight LN 602
Lionair Flight 602 was a Lionair Antonov An-24RV which fell into the sea off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka. The aircraft departed Kankesanturai Airport with several high ranking military officials of the Sri Lankan Army on a flight to Colombo and disappeared from radar screens just after the...

: On October 7, 1998, the Tamil Tigers
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...

shot down an aircraft off the coast of Sri Lanka.
2002 Mombasa airliner attack: On November 28, 2002, two shoulder-launched Strela 2
Strela 2
The 9K32 “Strela-2” is a man-portable, shoulder-fired, low-altitude surface-to-air missile system with a high explosive warhead and passive infrared homing guidance...

(SA-7) surface-to-air missiles were fired at a chartered Boeing 757
Boeing 757
The Boeing 757 is a mid-size, narrow-body twin-engine jet airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Passenger versions of the twinjet have a capacity of 186 to 289 persons and a maximum range of , depending on variant and cabin configuration...

airliner
Airliner
An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft for transporting passengers and cargo. Such aircraft are operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an aircraft intended for carrying multiple passengers in commercial...

as it took off from Moi
Daniel arap Moi
Daniel Toroitich arap Moi was the President of Kenya from 1978 until 2002.Daniel arap Moi is popularly known to Kenyans as 'Nyayo', a Swahili word for 'footsteps'...

International Airport. The missiles missed the aircraft which continued safely to Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

, carrying 271 vacationers from Mombasa back to Israel. In the photos, the missile systems were painted in light blue, the color used in the Soviet military for training material (a training SA-7 round would not have the guidance system).
2003 Baghdad DHL shootdown incident: On 22 November 2003, an Airbus A300
Airbus A300
The Airbus A300 is a short- to medium-range widebody jet airliner. Launched in 1972 as the world's first twin-engined widebody, it was the first product of Airbus Industrie, a consortium of European aerospace companies, wholly owned today by EADS...

B4-203F cargo plane, operating on behalf of DHL
DHL
DHL Express is a division of the German logistics company Deutsche Post providing international express mail services. DHL is a world market leader in sea and air mail....

was hit by an SA-7 missile, which resulted in the loss of its hydraulic systems. The crew later landed the crippled aircraft safely by using only differential engine thrust by adjusting the individual throttle controls of each engine.
2007 Mogadishu TransAVIAexport Airlines Il-76 crash
2007 Mogadishu TransAVIAexport Airlines Il-76 crash
On March 23, 2007, a TransAVIAexport Airlines Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft crashed on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia, during the 2007 Battle of Mogadishu. The plane was carrying repair equipment and humanitarian aid. According to a spokesperson for the transport ministry of Belarus, the aircraft...

: On March 23, 2007, a TransAVIAexport Airlines Ilyushin
Ilyushin
Open Joint Stock Company «Ilyushin Aviation Complex» , operating as Ilyushin or Ilyushin Design Bureau, is a Russian design bureau and aircraft manufacturer, founded by Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin. Ilyushin was established under the Soviet Union. Its operations began on January 13, 1933, by...

Il-76
Ilyushin Il-76
The Ilyushin Il-76 is a multi-purpose four-engined strategic airlifter designed by Ilyushin design bureau. It was first planned as a commercial freighter in 1967. Intended as a replacement for the Antonov An-12, the Il-76 was designed for delivering heavy machinery to remote, poorly-serviced areas...

airplane crashed in outskirts of Mogadishu
Mogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....

, Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

, during the 2007 Battle of Mogadishu
Battle of Mogadishu (March–April 2007)
The Battle of Mogadishu began on 21 March 2007 in the Shirkole area of Mogadishu between Somali Transitional Federal Government forces and Ethiopian troops, and Islamist insurgents.-First round of fighting:...

. Witnesses claim that a surface-to-air missile was fired immediately prior to the accident. However, Somali officials deny that the aircraft was shot down.

Countermeasures

Man-portable air defense systems are a popular black market item for insurgent forces. Their proliferation became the subject of the Wassenaar Arrangement

Wassenaar Arrangement

The Wassenaar Arrangement is a multilateral export control regime with 40 participating states including many former COMECON countries.It is the successor to the Cold war-era Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls , and was...

's (WA)22 Elements for Export Controls of MANPADS, the G8

The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...

Action Plan of 2 June 2003, the October 2003 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries that seeks to promote free trade and economic cooperation throughout the Asia-Pacific region...

(APEC) Summit, Bangkok Declaration on Partnership for the Future and in July 2003 the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections...

(OSCE), Forum for Security Co-operation, Decision No. 7/03: Man-portable Air Defense Systems.

Understanding the problem in 2003, Colin Powell

Colin Powell

Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...

remarked that there was “no threat more serious to aviation” than the missiles, which can be used to shoot down helicopters and commercial airliners, and are sold illegally for as little as a few hundred dollars. The U.S. has led a global effort to dismantle these weapons, with over 30,000 voluntarily destroyed since 2003, but probably hundreds of thousands are still in the hands of insurgents, especially in Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, where they were looted from the military arsenals of the former dictator Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...

, and in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

as well. In August 2010, a report by the Federation of American Scientists

Federation of American Scientists

The Federation of American Scientists is a nonpartisan, 501 organization intent on using science and scientific analysis to attempt make the world more secure. FAS was founded in 1945 by scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bombs...

(FAS) confirmed that “only a handful” of illicit MANPADS were recovered from national resistance caches in Iraq in 2009, according to media reports and interviews with military sources.

Military countermeasures

With the growing number of MANPADS attacks on civilian airliners, a number of different countermeasure

Countermeasure

A countermeasure is a measure or action taken to counter or offset another one. As a general concept it implies precision, and is any technological or tactical solution or system designed to prevent an undesirable outcome in the process...

systems have been developed specifically to protect aircraft against the missiles.

AN/ALQ-144
ALQ-144
The AN/ALQ-144, AN/ALQ-147, and AN/ALQ-157 are US infra-red guided missile countermeasure devices . They were developed by Sanders Associates in the 1970s to counter the threat of infra-red guided surface to air missiles like the SA-7 Grail...

, AN/ALQ-147 and AN/ALQ-157 are U.S.-produced systems, developed by Sanders Associates in the 1970s.
AN/AAQ-24 Nemesis
Directional Infrared Counter Measures
Directional Infrared Counter Measures is a system produced by Elbit Systems, Northrop Grumman, ITT Corporation and BAE Systems to protect aircraft from infrared homing man-portable missiles. It is a lightweight, compact system designed to provide mission-vulnerable aircraft with increased...

is a NATO system developed by Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company was the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2010, and the largest builder of naval vessels. Northrop Grumman employs over...

and BAE Systems
BAE Systems
BAE Systems plc is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc. BAE is among the world's largest military contractors; in 2009 it was the...

.

Civilian countermeasures

Civil Aircraft Missile Protection System
CAMPS
Civil Aircraft Missile Protection System or CAMPS is an infrared countermeasure against infrared-homed anti-aircraft missiles, specifically designed to defend civilian aircraft flying under against MANPADS....

(CAMPS)—Developed by Saab
Saab
Saab AB is a Swedish aerospace and defence company, founded in 1937. From 1947 to 1990 it was the parent company of automobile manufacturer Saab Automobile, and between 1968 and 1995 the company was in a merger with commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania, known as Saab-Scania.-History:"Svenska...

Avitronics, Chemring Countermeasures and Naturelink Aviation, using non-pyrotechnic infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...

decoy
Decoy
A decoy is usually a person, device or event meant as a distraction, to conceal what an individual or a group might be looking for. Decoys have been used for centuries most notably in game hunting, but also in wartime and in the committing or resolving of crimes.-Duck decoy:The term duck decoy may...

s.
Flight Guard
Flight Guard
Flight Guard is an Elta Systems Ltd's brand name for a family of airborne systems for protecting civilian aircraft against man-portable air-defense systems.-Description:...

by Elta
Elta
ELTA Systems LTD is an Israeli provider of defense products and services specializing in radar, C4ISTAR, RF, SIGINT and EW products.Elta, a group and subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries, is one of Israel's major defence electronics companies specializing in a variety of fields...

Systems Ltd.

Missile models

China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
- HN-5A/B
- QW-1
- QW-2
- FN-6
  FN-6
  FN-6 , also known as the HY-6, is a third generation passive infrared man portable air defence system. It was developed by China, and is their most advanced surface-to-air missile offered in the international market. Specially designed to engage low flying targets, it has a range of 6 km and...
France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
- Mistral
  Mistral missile
  Mistral is an infrared homing surface-to-air missile manufactured by the European multinational company MBDA missile systems . Based on the French SATCP , the portable missile later to become the Mistral began development in 1974...
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
- Blowpipe
  Blowpipe missile
  The Shorts Blowpipe is a man-portable surface-to-air missile which was in use with the British Army and Royal Marines from 1975. It was superseded by an interim design, Javelin, and later the greatly improved Starstreak missile.-Description:...
- Javelin
  Javelin surface-to-air missile
  Javelin is a British, man-portable surface-to-air missile, formerly used by the British Army and Canadian Army. It can be fired from the shoulder, or from a dedicated launcher known as Javelin LML—Lightweight Multiple Launcher...
- Starburst
  Starburst surface-to-air missile
  Starburst is a British man-portable surface-to-air missile produced by Shorts Missile Systems of Belfast . It is used by the British Army, Malaysian Army, and in the Canadian Army as the Javelin...
- Starstreak
  Starstreak missile
  Starstreak is a British short range surface-to-air missile manufactured by Thales Air Defence , in Belfast. It is also known as Starstreak HVM where HVM stands for "High Velocity Missile". After launch the missile accelerates to approximately Mach 3.5, at which point it launches three laser beam...
Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
- Misagh-1
  Misagh-1
  The Misagh 1 is an Iranian man-portable infrared guided surface to air missile. It was developed by the Shahid Kazemi Industrial Complex in Tehran and is an all-aspect passive infrared homing system...
- Misagh-2
  Misagh-2
  The Misagh 2 is an Iranian man-portable infrared guided surface to air missile. The Misagh 2 is the next version of the Misagh-1. Similar to its predecessor, the Misagh 2 is supposedly also based on Chinese technology...
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
- Type 91
  Type 91 Surface-To-Air missile
  is a Japanese man-portable surface-to-air missile. Its appearance is similar to the US-made FIM-92 Stinger anti-aircraft missile.In the ranks of the JSDF, the Type 91 is known as Hand Arrow.-History:...
- Type 93
  Type 93 Surface-to-Air Missile
  The is a surface to air missile used by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. It is the vehicle-borne version of the Type 91 missile.It's known in JSDF ranks as the Closed Arrow.-Description:...
Republic of Korea
- KP-SAM Shingung
Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
- Anza
  Anza (missile)
  Anza is a series of shoulder-fired, man-portable surface-to-air missiles produced by Pakistan. Guided by an infra-red homing seeker, Anza is used for low level air defence....
Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
- Grom
  Grom (missile)
  The Grom is a man-portable air-defense system produced in Poland. It consists of a 72 mm anti-aircraft missile set with a flight speed of 650 m/s, as well as a single-use launcher, re-usable gripstock and thermal battery coolant assembly electric unit...
Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

/Russian Federation
- 9K32M 'Strela-2' (SA-7)
- 9K36 'Strela-3' (SA-14)
- 9K38 'Igla' (SA-18)
  SA-18 Grouse
  The 9K38 Igla is a Russian/Soviet man-portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile . "9K38" is the Russian GRAU designation of the system...
- 9K310 'Igla-M' (SA-16)
Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
- RBS 70
  RBS 70
  RBS 70 is a man-portable air-defense system designed for anti-aircraft warfare in all climate zones and with little to no support from other forces. Originally designed and manufactured by the Swedish defence firm of Bofors Defence...
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- FIM-43 'Redeye'
  FIM-43 Redeye
  The General Dynamics FIM-43 Redeye was a man-portable surface-to-air missile system. It used infrared homing to track its target. Production was terminated in September 1969 after about 85,000 rounds had been built - in anticipation of the Redeye II, which later became the FIM-92 Stinger...
- FIM-92 'Stinger'
  FIM-92 Stinger
  The FIM-92 Stinger is a personal portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile , which can be adapted to fire from ground vehicles and helicopters , developed in the United States and entered into service in 1981. Used by the militaries of the U.S...

External links

MANPADS Proliferation—links to hundreds of documents on MANPADS, their proliferation, and control efforts
Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) Small Arms Survey
Small Arms Survey
The Small Arms Survey is an independent research project located at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland...

Research Note
Man Portable Missiles vs Airliners
Are Helicopters Vulnerable?—Analysis of MANPADS effectivness.
Man Portable AIr Defense System—GlobalSecurity.Org article covering period until 1999.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Overview

Missile types

Unguided

Infrared

First generation

Second generation

Third generation

Fourth generation

Command line-of-sight

Laser guided

Notable uses against military aircraft

Notable uses against civilian aircraft

Countermeasures

Military countermeasures

Civilian countermeasures

Missile models

See also

External links