Starstreak is a British short-range surface to air missile that can be used as a
man-portable air-defence system
Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS or MPADS) are portable surface-to-air missiles. They are guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters.
Overview
MANPADS were developed in the 1950s to provide military ...
(MANPADS) or in heavier systems, manufactured by
Thales Air Defence
Thales Air Defence Limited (TADL), formerly Shorts Missile Systems (SMS), is a defence contractor based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, producing short range air defence missiles.
Shorts Missile Systems was established as a joint venture betwee ...
(formerly Shorts Missile Systems), in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
, Northern Ireland. It is also known as Starstreak HVM (High Velocity Missile). After launch, the missile accelerates to more than Mach 4,
[ making it the fastest short-range surface-to-air missile in existence.][ It then launches three laser beam-riding submunitions, increasing the likelihood of a successful hit on the target. Starstreak has been in service with the ]British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
since 1997. In 2012 Thales relaunched the system as ForceSHIELD.[
]
Development
Development on the missile began in the early 1980s after an evaluation of missile and gun options to increase air defence capabilities showed that a high-velocity missile system would best meet the needs and could also replace existing shoulder-launched missiles. A General Staff Requirement (GSR3979) was drawn up with the requirements of the system, specifying the requirement of three launch platforms for the missile:
* A self-propelled launcher.[
* A three-round lightweight launcher.][
* A man-portable launcher.][
In 1984, the British ]Ministry of Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
awarded development contracts to British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...
(BAe) and Shorts Missile Systems; the BAe missile was known as Thunderbolt HVM. Shorts won the competition and were awarded £356 million. Further development and a production contract materialized in November 1986, and the missile was officially accepted into service in September 1997. The missile was intended to replace the 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 named the Lightweight Multiple Launcher (LML), that carries three roun ...
in British service.[ The LML and shoulder-launched versions have been in use since 2000.][
In July 2001, Thales received a contract for a successor ]identification friend or foe
Identification, friend or foe (IFF) is an identification system designed for command and control. It uses a transponder that listens for an ''interrogation'' signal and then sends a ''response'' that identifies the broadcaster. IFF systems usual ...
system for Starstreak.[
In mid-2007, Thales UK in Northern Ireland revealed that it had developed Starstreak II, a much improved successor to the Starstreak missile. Some of the advantages of the new version are increased range of , improved lethality,][ an improved targeting system, and much higher operating ceiling.]
In 2011, when it won a contract for the Lightweight Multirole Missile
Martlet is a lightweight air-to-surface, surface-to-air, and surface-to-surface missile developed by Thales Air Defence for the United Kingdom. It is named after a mythical bird from English heraldry that never roosts, the martlet.
Developed as t ...
(LMM), Thales announced it had agreed with the Ministry of Defence to "re-role previously contracted budgets to facilitate the full-scale development, series production and introduction of the LMM." The contract affected is speculated to have been Starstreak.
Description
When used in the light or MANPADS role, the Starstreak missile is transported in a sealed launch tube. This tube is attached to an aiming unit for firing. The operator tracks the target using the aiming unit's optically stabilized sight. The process of tracking the target allows the aiming unit to compute the right trajectory to bring the missile together with the target. The operator can indicate wind direction to the unit and, in the case of a long-range target, provide superelevation. When the initial tracking is complete, the operator fires the missile by pressing a button.[
The missile then fires the first-stage rocket motor; this launches the missile from the tube but burns out before leaving the tube to protect the operator. away from the operator, when the missile is at a safe distance, the second stage fires. This rapidly accelerates the missile to a burn-out velocity exceeding Mach 4 almost twice that of the Stinger missile . As the second stage burns out, three dart sub-munitions are released.
The dart housing is made from a ]tungsten
Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isolat ...
alloy
An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, ...
. The darts are each long, in diameter, and about in mass. Around half the weight of each dart – approximately – is its explosive charge, detonated by a delayed-action, impact-activated fuse
Fuse or FUSE may refer to:
Devices
* Fuse (electrical), a device used in electrical systems to protect against excessive current
** Fuse (automotive), a class of fuses for vehicles
* Fuse (hydraulic), a device used in hydraulic systems to protect ...
.[ Each dart consists of a rotating fore-body, with two canard fins, attached to a non-rotating rear assembly with four fins. The rear assembly of each dart also houses the guidance electronics including a rearwards facing sensor.
The darts do not home in on laser energy reflected from the target; instead, the aiming unit projects two laser beams which paint a two-dimensional matrix upon the target. The lasers are modulated, and by examining these modulations the sub-munitions sensor can determine the dart's location within the matrix. The dart is then steered to keep it in the centre of the matrix. The sub-munitions steer by briefly decelerating the rotating fore-body with a clutch. The front wings then steer the missile in the appropriate direction. The three sub-munitions fly in a formation about in radius, and have enough kinetic energy to manoeuvre to meet a target evading at 9 g at altitude.][
Earlier laser guidance systems used a single beam that had to be kept on the target at all times, the missile homing in on laser energy reflected off the target; if it moved off the target, the reflection would end and guidance would be lost until the target was regained. This problem could be reduced by making the laser's beam wider, but at the cost of reduced accuracy and reflected energy. Starstreak's system allows for the beam area to be much larger than the target while retaining pinpoint accuracy.
On impact with the target a delayed-action ]fuse
Fuse or FUSE may refer to:
Devices
* Fuse (electrical), a device used in electrical systems to protect against excessive current
** Fuse (automotive), a class of fuses for vehicles
* Fuse (hydraulic), a device used in hydraulic systems to protect ...
is triggered, allowing the projectile to penetrate the target before the explosive warhead
A warhead is the forward section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket, torpedo, or bomb.
Classification
Types of warheads include:
* Explosiv ...
detonate
Detonation () is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations propagate supersonically through shock waves with s ...
s. The tungsten
Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isolat ...
housing is designed to fragment and maximise damage inside the target.[
In September 1999, the missile was demonstrated against an ]FV432
The FV432 is the armoured personnel carrier variant in the British Army's FV430 series of armoured fighting vehicles. Since its introduction in the 1960s, it has been the most common variant, being used for transporting infantry on the battlefie ...
armoured personnel carrier
An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world.
Acc ...
, illustrating the missile's effectiveness as a surface-to-surface weapon.[ Each sub-munition dart travelling at has comparable ]kinetic energy
In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the energy that it possesses due to its motion.
It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its accele ...
to a shell from a Bofors 40 mm gun Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to two models of 40 mm calibre anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors:
*Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun - developed in the 1930s, widely used in World War II and into the 1990s
...
, though it lacks the armour-penetration capabilities of a purpose-built anti-tank guided missile
An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder ...
or a dual-purpose missile (such as the Air Defence Anti-Tank System).
Advantages
Starstreak has a number of advantages over infrared homing
Infrared homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers" since infrared is radi ...
guided, radar homing Radar homing may refer to:
*Active radar homing
*Semi-active radar homing
See also
*Radar lock-on
Lock-on is a feature of many radar systems that allow it to automatically follow a selected target. Lock-on was first designed for the AI Mk. IX r ...
guided, and radio command guidance
Command guidance is a type of missile guidance in which a ground station or aircraft relay signals to a guided missile via radio control or through a wire connecting the missile to the launcher and tell the missile where to steer to intercept its ...
MCLOS
Manual command to line of sight (MCLOS) is a method for guiding guided missiles.
With an MCLOS missile, the operator must track the missile and the target simultaneously and guide the missile to the target. Typically the missile is steered with a ...
/SACLOS
Semi-automatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) is a method of missile command guidance. In SACLOS, the operator has to continually point a sighting device at the target while the missile is in flight. Electronics in the sighting device and/or th ...
(e.g. Blowpipe or Javelin
A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...
) missiles:
* It cannot be jammed by infrared countermeasure
An infrared countermeasure (IRCM) is a device designed to protect aircraft from infrared homing ("heat seeking") missiles by confusing the missiles' infrared guidance system so that they miss their target ( electronic countermeasure). Heat-s ...
s or radar/radio countermeasures.[
* It cannot be suppressed with ]anti-radar missile
An anti-radiation missile (ARM) is a missile designed to detect and home in on an enemy radio emission source. Typically, these are designed for use against an enemy radar, although jammers and even radios used for communications can also be t ...
s.[
]
Service history
The missile was brought into service with 12 Regiment Royal Artillery and 47 Regiment Royal Artillery in 1997 as part of the High Velocity Missile (HVM) system equipped with both the Air Defence Acquisition Device (ADAD) and a ×60 thermal sight. Each regiment was equipped with 108 HVM self-propelled armoured launchers mounted on the Stormer tracked chassis capable of holding eight missiles ready to fire and a further eight reloads (the original capacity of twelve was reduced during a revision). The launchers could originally run on batteries for extended periods to minimise their signature, but significant upgrades dramatically increased the system's power requirements. A light-role variant known as HVM Lightweight Multi Launch (LML), capable of holding three ready-to-fire missiles, was also brought into service with the Air Defence Troop Royal Marines and a Royal Artillery Air Assault Battery attached to 16 Air Assault Brigade
16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, from 1999 to 2021 16 Air Assault Brigade, is a formation of the British Army based in Colchester in the county of Essex. It is the Army's rapid response airborne formation and is the only brigade in the Britis ...
. The systems' armoured variant, the HVM Self Propelled (Stormer), saw service during the Second Gulf War but did not fire. The British Army currently uses the A5 fifth-generation missile, significantly improved from the original missile. The HVM SP and LML variants now carry a mix of both Starstreak A5 and Lightweight Multirole Missile
Martlet is a lightweight air-to-surface, surface-to-air, and surface-to-surface missile developed by Thales Air Defence for the United Kingdom. It is named after a mythical bird from English heraldry that never roosts, the martlet.
Developed as t ...
s.
In 2012, the Ministry of Defence announced that it would be placing HVM LML light role detachments equipped with Starstreak A4 missiles on top of several blocks of flats in London prior to the 2012 London Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. The Ministry claimed that the area was the only suitable location for an air defence detachment of the type. Some residents were upset and uncertain of the necessity of the detachment. In 2013, the British MOD ordered 200 more Starstreak missiles.
On 16 March 2022, Defence Secretary
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
Ben Wallace announced that the UK would supply Ukraine with Starstreak missiles to help prevent Russian air supremacy following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
. British soldiers trained Ukrainian forces to use the system. HVM SPs were also deployed to Poland as an interim measure until the arrival of Sky Sabre. In April 2022, Starstreak missiles were in use by Ukrainian soldiers, and it was reported that Ukrainian forces appeared to have successfully used the system to shoot down a Russian Mi-28N attack helicopter. The missile, according to footage released by the UK MOD, hit with all three projectiles, splitting the helicopter in half.[
In April there were reports that the UK would be providing ]Alvis Stormer
The Alvis Stormer is a military armoured vehicle manufactured by the British company Alvis Vickers, now BAE Systems Land & Armaments. The Stormer is a development of the CVR(T) family of vehicles (Scorpion, Scimitar, Spartan etc.), essentially ...
vehicles armed with Starstreak.
Variants
* ATASK (Air To Air Starstreak): Fired from a helicopter. This was developed in combination with McDonnell-Douglas and Lockheed-Martin
The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace manufacturer, aerospace, military, arms, defense, information security, and Technology company, technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the Horizontal integrati ...
electronics between 1995 and 1998 specifically for use with the AH-64 Apache
The Boeing AH-64 Apache () is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vis ...
. It has yet to enter service.[
* LML: Fired from a Lightweight Multiple Launcher (LML) that holds three missiles ready for firing and can be used as either a stationary launch unit or mounted on a light vehicle such as a ]Land Rover
Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...
or HMMWV
The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of light, four-wheel drive, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It has largely supplanted the roles previously performed by the ori ...
(Humvee). The LML originated in a proposal under the Army Suggestions Scheme for the Javelin system.[
* Seastreak: Two versions of a naval mounting have been demonstrated—a one-man mount similar to the LML but carrying a total of six missiles, and a ]close in weapon system
A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of l ...
mounting holding 24 missiles.
* Self-propelled (SP) HVM: Carried on an Alvis Stormer
The Alvis Stormer is a military armoured vehicle manufactured by the British company Alvis Vickers, now BAE Systems Land & Armaments. The Stormer is a development of the CVR(T) family of vehicles (Scorpion, Scimitar, Spartan etc.), essentially ...
AFV with a roof-mounted eight-round launcher with internal storage for a further 8 missiles.[ This is the most common variant.
* Starstreak Avenger: Built to a U.S. Army requirement in the early 1990s, this system integrated the Starstreak missile on the Boeing Avenger vehicle, replacing 1 pod of ]Stinger
A stinger (or sting) is a sharp organ found in various animals (typically insects and other arthropods) capable of injecting venom, usually by piercing the epidermis of another animal.
An insect sting is complicated by its introduction of v ...
missiles with 1 pod of 4 Starstreak and modifying the fire control system accordingly.
* Starstreak Mark II: Upgrade to the Starstreak.
* THOR/Multi Mission System (MMS): A four-missile turret {{unreferenced, date=March 2016
A missile turret is a device used to aim missiles towards their targets before launch. Similarly to gun turrets they have been used on warships and vehicles on the ground. In most roles articulated missile launch ...
mounted on a Pinzgauer ( 6×6) cross-country chassis, launched by Thales UK in 2005.
* RapidRanger MMS weapon launcher on URO VAMTAC
The URO VAMTAC () is a Spanish four-wheel drive military vehicle manufactured by UROVESA. Externally it is similar in appearance and design to the Humvee of the United States Military due to similar requirements. More than 2,000 of the vehicles hav ...
vehicle
* Man-portable shoulder launcher
Operators
; :
:* HVM SP – Approx 40 systems for a front line establishment of 36 (156 originally purchased)
:* HVM LML – Approx 16 systems
; :
:* LML – 8 LML launcher systems. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is an international institute based in Stockholm. It was founded in 1966 and provides data, analysis and recommendations for armed conflict, military expenditure and arms trade as well a ...
trade registers list the number of Portable SAMs delivered as 96 with another order for 82
; :
:* Royal Thai Army
The Royal Thai Army or RTA ( th, กองทัพบกไทย; ) is the army of Thailand and the oldest and largest branch of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.
History
Origin
The Royal Thai Army is responsible for protecting the kingdom's so ...
– Ordered in 2012
; :
:* Indonesian Army
The Indonesian Army ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Darat (TNI-AD), ) is the land branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It has an estimated strength of 300,000 active personnel. The history of the Indonesian Army has its ...
– First order was in November 2011, followed by a second but no deliveries were made and the contract was renegotiated in January 2014 to equip five batteries of ForceShield system with Starstreak missiles, ControlMaster200 radars and weapon coordination systems, lightweight multiple launchers on Land Rover Defenders and RapidRanger weapon launchers on URO VAMTAC
The URO VAMTAC () is a Spanish four-wheel drive military vehicle manufactured by UROVESA. Externally it is similar in appearance and design to the Humvee of the United States Military due to similar requirements. More than 2,000 of the vehicles hav ...
vehicles, at a cost of over £100m. In 2022, PT. LEN stated that 9 battery already operational out of 10 battery ordered.
; :
:* Malaysian Armed Forces
The Malaysian Armed Forces (: MAF; ms, Angkatan Tentera Malaysia; Jawi: ), are the armed forces of Malaysia, consists of three branches; the Malaysian Army, Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The number of MAF active pers ...
– Ordered an undisclosed number of LML and vehicle-based variants in July 2015. In used with the ForceSHIELD defense system. Will replace the Starburst.[
; :
:* ]Armed Forces of Ukraine
, imports =
, exports =
, history =
, ranks = Military ranks of Ukraine
, country=Ukraine
The Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Збро́йні си́ли Украї́ни), most commonly known ...
– Deliveries announced in March 2022 as part of UK military aid during the Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatist forces in Donbas, Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since Feb ...
.
See also
* Lightweight Multirole Missile
Martlet is a lightweight air-to-surface, surface-to-air, and surface-to-surface missile developed by Thales Air Defence for the United Kingdom. It is named after a mythical bird from English heraldry that never roosts, the martlet.
Developed as t ...
– multi-role missile based on Starstreak.
* Fireflash
Fireflash was the United Kingdom's first air-to-air guided missile to see service with the Royal Air Force. Constructed by Fairey Aviation, the missile utilised radar beam riding guidance. Fireflash had relatively limited performance and requ ...
, a missile from the 1950s that used a similar configuration of an unpowered, guided munition that receives an initial acceleration from booster rockets
* Similar missiles include: Strela-2, Strela-3, Igla, Stinger
A stinger (or sting) is a sharp organ found in various animals (typically insects and other arthropods) capable of injecting venom, usually by piercing the epidermis of another animal.
An insect sting is complicated by its introduction of v ...
, Anza (missile)
The Anza (عنزہ ''Anza'') is a series of shoulder-fired, man-portable surface-to-air missiles produced by Pakistan. Guided by an infrared homing seeker, the Anza is used for short range air defence.
The Anza is produced by Kahuta Research L ...
, Blowpipe, Javelin
A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...
, Mistral
Mistral may refer to:
* Mistral (wind) in southern France and Sardinia
Automobiles
* Maserati Mistral, a Maserati grand tourer produced from 1963 until 1970
* Nissan Mistral, or Terrano II, a Nissan 4×4 produced from 1993 until 2006
* Microp ...
, VSHORAD (India)
The Very Short Range Air Defence System, or VSHORADS is a Man Portable Air Defence System (MANPAD) or man portable surface-to-air missile developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation's Research Centre Imarat (RCI), located at Hydera ...
, KP-SAM Shingung
The KP-SAM ( ko, 신궁 "Shingung", hanja: 新弓) is a South Korean Man-portable air-defense system, shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile manufactured by LIG Nex1. It is marketed internationally as the Chiron.
History
The KP-SAM was creat ...
and RBS 70
RBS 70 (Robotsystem 70) is a man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) 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 ...
.
References
External links
Improved Starstreak
* ttp://www.copybook.com/military/fact-files/starstreak_missile_system Starstreak High Velocity Missile – Armed Forces International
*
Starstreak HVM – British Army website
Royal Marines Air Defence Troop, High Velocity Missile live firing
{{UKmissiles
Post–Cold War missiles of the United Kingdom
20th-century surface-to-air missiles
Surface-to-air missiles of the United Kingdom
Military equipment introduced in the 1990s
Short Brothers missiles