The 9K34 Strela-3 (russian: 9К34 «Стрела-3», 'arrow',
NATO reporting name: SA-14 Gremlin) is a man-portable air defense missile system (
MANPADS) developed in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
as a response to the poor performance of the earlier
9K32 Strela-2 (SA-7 Grail) system. The
missile
In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocke ...
was largely based on the earlier
Strela 2
The 9K32 Strela-2 (russian: Cтрела, "arrow"; NATO reporting name SA-7 Grail) is a light-weight, shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missile (or MANPADS) system. It is designed to target aircraft at low altitudes with passive infrared homing guid ...
, and thus development proceeded rapidly. The new weapon was accepted into service in the
Soviet Army
uk, Радянська армія
, image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg
, alt =
, caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army
, start_date ...
in January 1974.
Description
The most significant change over the Strela 2 was the introduction of an all-new
infra-red homing seeker head. The new seeker worked on
FM modulation (con-scan) principle, which is less vulnerable to
jamming and decoy flares than the earlier AM (spin-scan) seekers, which were easily fooled by
flare
A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala in some Latin-speaking countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illumination, ...
s and even the most primitive
infrared
Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...
jammers
Jammer may refer to:
Signal blocking devices
* Radar jammer, a device used in radar jamming and deception
* Radio jammer, a device used in radio jamming
* Radio-controlled Improvised Explosive Device jammer, a counter-IED device
* Mobile phone ...
. The new seeker also introduced detector element cooling in the form of a
pressurized nitrogen
Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...
bottle attached to the launcher.
The effect of cooling was to expand the seeker's lead sulphide detector element's sensitivity range to longer
wavelength
In physics, the wavelength is the spatial period of a periodic wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.
It is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, t ...
s (slightly over 4
μm as opposed to 2.8 μm of uncooled PbS elements). In practice this made possible the tracking of cooler targets over longer ranges, and enabled forward-hemisphere engagement of jets under favourable circumstances. The seeker also had better tracking rate, enabling the missile to track maneuvering of fast and approaching targets.
A negative side effect from the aforementioned improvements was increased missile weight, which caused a slight decrease in the kinematic performance of the original Strela-2 (SA-7). Against relatively slow, low-altitude battlefield air threats the overall effectiveness was much improved.
Strela-3 missiles have been exported to over 30 countries.
The original Strela-3 missile was the 9M36. The follow-on to the Strela-3 was
Igla.
The naval version of this missile has the NATO reporting name of SA-N-8.
Operational history
Iraq
On 22 November 2003 an
Airbus A300 cargo plane was hit by a Strela-3 missile after takeoff from
Baghdad International Airport, but managed to land safely despite losing hydraulic power.
On 6 May 2006, a British
Westland Lynx AH.7 of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
from 847 Squadron was shot down with a Strela-3 over Basra, killing five crewmen and crashing into a house.
Georgia
During the
War in Abkhazia (1992–1993)
The War in Abkhazia was fought between Georgian government forces for the most part and Abkhaz separatist forces, Russian government armed forces and North Caucasian militants between 1992 and 1993. Ethnic Georgians who lived in Abkhazia fo ...
, a Russian
Mi-8 helicopter was shot down by a
Georgian Army
The Defence Forces of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს თავდაცვის ძალები, tr), or Georgian Defence Forces (GDF), are the combined military forces of Georgia, tasked with the defense of the nation's indep ...
SA-14 on December 14, 1992, resulting in the death of 3 crew and 58 passengers, most of them Russian refugees. A
Georgian Air Force Su-25 was shot down over Nizhnaya Eshera on 4 July 1993 by SA-14, and several other aircraft on both sides may have been shot down by SA-14s.
Former Yugoslavia
A British
Sea Harrier FRS1 of
801 Naval Air Squadron
801 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) was a Fleet Air Arm squadron of the Royal Navy formed in 1933 which fought in World War II, the Korean War and the Falklands War.
Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force
The squadron was formed on 3 April 1933 as part ...
, operating from aircraft carrier on 16 April 1994, was shot down during its attack on two Serbian
T-55
The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tank ...
tanks in
Bosnia. The pilot, Lieutenant Nick Richardson, ejected and landed in territory controlled by friendly
Bosniaks.
DRC Congo
A
Zimbabwe Air Force Il-76
The Ilyushin Il-76 (russian: Илью́шин Ил-76; NATO reporting name: Candid) is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau. It was first planned as a comme ...
was shot down by Congolese rebels using an SA-14 on 11 October 1998 during the
Second Congo War, resulting in the death of 40 troops and crew.
Afghanistan
SA-14s used by the
Northern Alliance
The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...
are credited with having shot down 8
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
MiG-21
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nickn ...
and
Su-22
The Sukhoi Su-17 (''izdeliye'' S-32) is a variable-sweep wing fighter-bomber developed for the Soviet military. Its NATO reporting name is "Fitter". Developed from the Sukhoi Su-7, the Su-17 was the first variable-sweep wing aircraft to enter ...
fighters during the Taliban's 2000 offensive against
Taloqan
Taloqan ( Persian, also transcribed Taleqan or Taluqan) is the capital of Takhar Province, in northeastern Afghanistan. It is located in the Taluqan District. The population was estimated as 196,400 in 2006.
In 2021, the Taliban gained contro ...
.
Turkey
A SA-14 (9K34 Strela-3) MANPADS was found during
Operation Claw (2019-2020) in June 2019 in the Hakurk region of northern
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
belonging to the
PKK
The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of sout ...
.
Operators
Current operators
*
**
Jamiat-e Islami
*
**
UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ( pt, União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the Popular Movement for ...
*
*
*
*
*
* – used during Georgian civil war.
*
Hezbollah
*
*
*
*
Kurdistan Workers' Party
*
*
*
*
*
**
Revolutionary United Front
The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel group that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, beginning in 1991 and ending in 2002. It later transformed into a political party, which still exists today. The three most senior surv ...
*
*
*
Former operators
* – never acquired to military service
* – never acquired to military service
* – never acquired to military service
*
* – 100 bought in the 1980s, but never acquired to military service.
*
Comparison chart
See also
*
List of Russian weaponry
The following is a list of modern Russian small arms and light weapons which were in service in 2016:
Handguns
Revolvers
Pistols
Special purpose
Submachine guns
Special purpose
Shotguns
Rifles
Bolt-action
Semi-a ...
Citations
General and cited references
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:9k34 Strela-3
KB Mashinostroyeniya products
Military equipment introduced in the 1970s
9K34
9K34