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MANPADS Man Portable Air Defense System

The portable air defense missile is a very special type of air defense weapon, mainly because it does not have a huge system and is extremely concealed. It is usually only discovered after launching. A large number of actual combat records also proved the value of this weapon. Portable air defense missiles can rely on the search and early warning departments of other air defense systems to provide air information, or independently rely on simple equipment or visually discover targets for combat, and can be widely deployed. However, the reaction time and range are relatively poor. The individual portable air defense missile is a light air defense weapon with the smallest volume, lightest weight, shortest range, and smallest firing height in the ground-to-air missile series. Fighters, attack aircraft, bombers and gunships flying at ultra-low altitudes.

Low-altitude flight refers to below 1000 meters, and ultra-low-altitude flight refers to an altitude of 10 to 100 meters. Low-altitude and ultra-low-altitude are mostly within the blind area of ??radar, and the terrain is more complicated, which is conducive to the covert engagement of aircraft and helicopters. At the same time, due to the minimum firing height and range of surface-to-air missiles, it is often difficult to cover this area, leaving a blank area for enemy aircraft to penetrate defenses. Since the 1970s, the Vietnam War, the Middle East War, the Falklands War, and the Gulf War have successfully used low-altitude and ultra-low-altitude penetration tactics, which some people call the "one tree high" offensive tactics. The new tactics adopted by aerial targets will inevitably affect the corresponding changes in weapon development. Planes and helicopters fly at low altitudes and ultra-low altitudes at an altitude of 10 to 1,000 meters, and then use a large medium-high altitude ground-to-air missile with a range of 250 kilometers, weighing more than 10 tons, and about 17 meters long, obviously inappropriate. For this reason, since the 1970s, individual man-portable air defense missiles have emerged.

Three generations of man-portable air defense missiles have been developed: the first generation is the American "Red Eye" and the Soviet SA-7; the second generation is the American "Stinger", the British "Blowpipe" and the Swedish RBS-70; The three generations are the improved version of the American "Stinger", the French "Northwest Wind" and the British "Javelin" and "Starlight". Individual portable air defense missiles generally use a special launcher for shoulder launch. The launcher is a one-time use type; the missile is about 1 meter long and the maximum length is 1.5 meters; the projectile weighs about 10 kilograms and the maximum weight is 15 kilograms; the effective range is 2-7 kilometers; effective shooting height is also 2-5 kilometers; flying Mach number is about 2, and individual can reach 4-6; power devices are mostly solid rocket motors, which are launched by booster rockets during launch, a few meters away from the launch tube The main aircraft engine starts. This kind of missile has the characteristics of small, light, and concealed launch, and has played an important role in previous wars. It is said that the Afghan guerrillas used it to shoot down more than 500 planes and helicopters.

There are three types of MANPADS portable air defense missiles - Hongying 5, Qianwei 1 and Hongying 6 - in service in our army, in addition to several foreign trade models. my country issued the task of developing a portable air defense missile in 1975. The goal was to imitate the Soviet Union's 9K32 Arrow 2 type, NATO called the SA-7 missile. The missile is the first generation of portable air defense missiles in the world. It uses lead sulfide seekers to detect infrared heat sources. It can only be used for tail chase attack, collision mode, and no anti-infrared interference capability. It shot down more than 20 US helicopters in the Vietnam War.

The development process of the Hongying-5 missile was not smooth, and it was necessary to solve the problems of small dual-thrust solid rocket motors and small steering gears. It was only finalized in 1984. The Hongying-5 was also developed at the same time as the Hongying-5. The two models were carried out by two units, but with similarities. The bullet was finalized in 1986.

Hongying-5 belongs to the first generation of portable air defense missiles, with low sensitivity, poor anti-jamming capability, and low speed and range. In the 1970s and 1980s, the world developed the second generation of portable air defense missiles, using helium-cooled indium antimonide infrared detectors to improve sensitivity. Using a fast scanning seeker and a large number of integrated circuits, it basically has the ability to attack the target in all directions, and improves the power. As we all know, the US-made Stinger missile of this generation of portable air defense missiles shines in Afghanistan.

In order to keep up with the trend of the world, China launched the Qianwei-1 foreign trade portable air defense missile at the Farnborough Air Show in the United Kingdom in 1994, which is similar in appearance to the Stinger, and the missile itself is basically the same in appearance. The propaganda indicators are better than the stinger of the 1980s. The bomb then entered active service in the Chinese Army.

After the launch of the Qianwei-1 missile, it was immediately exported to Pakistan and shot down a MiG-21 and a MiG-27 in India in the Kargil conflict in 1999. Pakistan then began to introduce and produce this type of missile, called ANZA MK2, and exported it to Malaysia.

In the 1990s, China developed the next generation of portable air defense missiles, which were finalized in 1999, called Hongying-6 (HN-6), which was exhibited for the first time at the Zhuhai Air Show in 2002. The missile belongs to the world's third-generation portable air defense missile. It uses multiple infrared detectors, has multi-spectrum infrared detection capabilities and target recognition algorithms, which can effectively avoid interference and ground infrared clutter. The missile is currently the main portable air defense missile of our army. There is a cover on the front end of the launch tube of the Hongying-6 missile, which is removed during launch. There is a small rack on the side for attaching night vision or optical sighting equipment.

The Hongying-6 missiles are widely deployed in the divisional air defense regiments of our army and some regiments are antiaircraft artillery companies, and are heavily equipped with militia reserves in the southeast coastal area.

The price of the third-generation portable air defense missile is not cheap anymore. Usually a missile plus a launcher is more than $100,000. The missile accounts for the bulk, not counting some additional devices. China's Fei Nu-6 was exported to Malaysia soon after its launch, and the price was 16 sets of 23 million ringgits, which is almost US$400,000 for one set. Estimates include multiple missiles, training costs and other equipment. Malaysia’s main combat target is the Singapore Air Force, which is within easy reach, so it is equipped with many short-range air defense weapons.

Portable anti-aircraft missiles are used as the main ground-based air defense weapons in many developing countries. It is known that the Flying Crossbow-6 is also exported to Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sudan and Peru. Some foreign media believe that it may also include Iran and Qatar.

In the new century, China began to develop the next generation of portable air defense missiles that are currently under development. This type of missile may use infrared imaging seekers, called Hongying-7. In 2008, the Zhuhai Air Show exhibited Fei Nu-16 and The Qianwei-18 is estimated to be the model that was eliminated when the Hongying-7 was bid, and other export models include the Qianwei-1A and the Qianwei-1M.