SA-29 9M336 Verba (Willow)
The Verba (Willow) portable air defense missile system, which is capable of distinguishing its target from any interference, has joined the Russian forces, replacing the Igla-S. According to Russian experts, the new MANPADS exceed their foreign counterparts in their tactical and technical characteristics.
the Verba MANPADS was even recognized by NATO as one of the best portable systems, surpassing the British Starstreak, the American Stinger FIM-92 and other analogues in a number of indicators. In particular, for such as high performance against low-radiating targets (reconnaissance, attack drones and cruise missiles).
The high efficiency of the complex is ensured by a three-band optical seeker on the 9M336 rocket. It has two infrared and one ultraviolet range. The missile is capable of destroying targets flying at speeds up to 500 m/s. She does not perceive "traps" and is invulnerable to laser jamming systems. The effective launch range is from 0.5 to 6.4 km. Destroys air targets in the altitude range from 10 to 4500 m. The time from target detection to missile launch is 8 seconds. The missile's radar is capable of detecting targets at a distance of up to 80 km.
The Verba can take out drones and cruise missiles The main difference between the Verba and Russian MANPADS of the last generation is the heat-seeking multispectral optical heating-seeking head (GOS), through which the missile can distinguish a captured target from passive heat traps, which are now required elements in the defense systems of not only fighters, bombers, attack helicopters and attack aircraft, but also transport aircraft and helicopters.
Currently Igla MANPADS are operational in more than 30 countries (in addition to Russia and CIS countries), including: Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Poland, Finland, Vietnam, Singapore, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Nicaragua, Cuba, India, Germany, Iraq, and Malaysia.
MANPADS with multispectral GOS are now being actively bought by the Armed Forces of the United States and France. That being said, these missiles are not currently being exported. The Verba rocket can see its target in three spectra, so it is able to distinguish a target even when so-called ‘laser projectors’ attempt to blind the GOS MANPADS with their rays.
The modern heat seeker can detect and engage targets with low thermal radiation, such as drones and cruise missiles. Not even helicopters with specially mounted devices that reduce the temperature of the engine exhaust are safe from the Verba. Frontal attack Most foreign MANPADS operate comfortably only in the course of pursuit, when the aircraft has already flown past the position of the MANPADS operator, and the missile is fired after it, focusing on the thermal emissions coming from the aircraft’s engines.
However, the Russian Verba with its 9m336 rocket can take the enemy head-on, with a frontal attack. In such a scenario, the multispectral optical heat-seeker does not recognize the heat emitted by the engine of the aircraft, but the heat that builds up on the wings and fuselage from air resistance. In addition to its new heat-seeking head, the Russian Verba distinguishes itself from the Igla with its superior performance characteristics, in particular in the range and altitude at which it can hit its target.
While the majority of the actual characteristics of modern MANPADS remain tightly guarded, it has been voiced in media reports that the latest Verba rocket is able to hit a target at a distance of 4 miles and at an altitude of 2.8 miles. Its predecessor, the Igla, could reach its target at almost the same distance, but only at a height of 2.2 miles. For the sake of comparison, the radius of the effective action of the American Stinger MANPADS is only 3 miles in distance and 2.4 miles in altitude.
The new MANPADS, using the integrated automated control system (ACS) terminal, can be used both individually and as part of the battery. Through the ACS the commander uses data not only from ground radar, but also, according to some data, even from early radar warning aircraft. It can see its targets in advance, and then distribute them among operators of MANPADS in automatic mode.
Currently systems with similar performance characteristics, equipped with multispectral optical heat-seeking heads are operational only in the United States and France. Foreign systems are also used in combination with an automated troop command system. However, Russia's Verba is still calimed to be superior to its foreign counterparts in its tactical and technical characteristics.
MANPADS "Verba" (Russian: "Willow") is designed to destroy aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles on head-on and overtaking courses in conditions of organized optical interference with visual visibility of air targets, as well as at night. The complex can be used in any geographical areas. A key feature of the Verba MANPADS is the ability to hit low-emitting targets, such as cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, under the influence of false thermal interference at an altitude of 10 m to 4.5 thousand m and at a distance of 500 m to 6.5 thousand m. The complex includes a launcher, a rocket, a "friend or foe" system, training equipment and other mechanisms. The deployment time of MANPADS is eight seconds.
Compared to last generation Igla MANPAD, the Verba is ten times more efficient to overcome pyrotechnic interference. The track initiation zone of airborne targets has increased 2.5 times. The Verba MANPAD is capable of striking not only aircraft and helicopters, but also cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. The missile of the system is equipped with a three-spectral homing head that operates in ultraviolet, near infrared and middle infrared ranges. The technology allows to obtain more information about the target.
In terms of its performance characteristics, the 9K333 Verba complex surpasses the portable air defense systems 9K310 Igla-1, 9K38 Igla, 9K338 Igla-S, which are in service with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as their foreign counterparts Stinger-Block- I" (USA) and QW-2 (China). Verba is a new generation of MANPADS. Its improved characteristics are based on the use of a fundamentally new homing head - a three-spectrum one (Igla-S uses a two-spectrum one) and a new instrument compartment. The sensitivity of the OGS has been increased many times, its noise immunity has been increased. As a result, the zone of destruction of targets has significantly expanded and the effectiveness of the use of the complex at long ranges has increased.
The complex set includes: 9M336 missile, 9P521 launcher, 1L229V ground-based radar interrogator "friend or foe", 9V861 mobile control point, 1L122 small-sized radar detector, 9S931 planning module, 9S932-1 reconnaissance and control module, 9S933 portable fire control module (in the brigade kit), built-in mounting kit 9?933-1 (in the divisional kit), automation kit for anti-aircraft gunner 9?935, training equipment.
The quality and reliability of the complex have significantly improved, and its maintenance has been simplified. There was no need to conduct periodic checks in the troops with cooling of the homing head with nitrogen. This made it possible to abandon additional equipment, nitrogen storage facilities, and save human resources. At the same time, high continuity with previous complexes has been maintained in terms of combat work, operation, maintenance and training.
The security of the complex against pyrotechnic interference has been increased by at least 10 times. The new unique three-spectral homing head provides selection of false thermal targets with powerful thermal radiation. The combat effectiveness of the complex was increased by 1.5-2 times. This became possible due to a combination of innovations and improved performance of MANPADS. The complex has a higher accuracy of fire. Like the Igla-S, the warhead of the Verba is equipped with a contact-proximity fuse.
The scheme of missile displacement during approaching the target in the most vulnerable parts of the aircraft and the method of detonation of fuel residues have been saved. There was a possibility of shelling targets that emit little in the infrared wavelength range. Verba has resumed the practice of using the “friend or foe” request. The use of the new MANPADS in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation makes it possible to provide cover for military units from attacks by air assets using modern means of countering air defense systems, from mass strikes of cruise missiles, to create an effective near line of defense of important objects for the destruction of enemy aircraft that have broken through the distant lines of air defense, which, in the conditions of modern military operations using massive air raids, experience excessive loads. The complex allows to destroy air targets with a smaller number of missiles, significantly saves expensive missiles of large anti-aircraft missile systems.
One of the main advantages of the Verba is the high probability of hitting low-emitting targets: cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles. These are those flying objects that are difficult to detect, but even more difficult to shoot them down. In terms of efficiency, there is no complex in the world equal to Verba.
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