Stinger installation. Man-portable anti-aircraft missile system "Stinger"

At the end of September 1986, Soviet pilots from the temporary contingent of Soviet troops in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan first felt the power of the new weapons that the Americans equipped the Afghan Mujahideen. Until this moment soviet planes and helicopters felt free in the Afghan skies, providing transport and air cover for ground operations carried out by Soviet army units. The supply of Stinger man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems to Afghan opposition units radically changed the situation during the Afghan war. Soviet aviation units were forced to change tactics, and transport and attack aircraft pilots became more careful in their actions. Despite the fact that the decision to withdraw the Soviet military contingent from the DRA was made much earlier, it is generally accepted that it was the Stinger MANPADS that became the key to curtailing the Soviet military presence in Afghanistan.

What is the main reason for success

By that time, American stingers were no longer considered a new product on the arms market. However, from a technical point of view, the combat use of Stinger MANPADS raised the level of armed resistance by a qualitative level. new level. A trained operator could independently make an accurate shot while being in a completely unexpected place or hiding in a hidden position. Having received an approximate flight direction, the missile made a subsequent flight to the target independently, using its own heat guidance system. The main target of an anti-aircraft missile was a hot airplane or helicopter engine that emitted heat waves in the infrared range.

Firing at air targets could be carried out at distances of up to 4.5 km, and the altitude of actual destruction of air targets varied in the range of 200-3500 meters.

Needless to say, the Afghan opposition was the first to use American Stingers in combat. First case combat use a new man-portable anti-aircraft missile system was noted during the Falklands War of 1982. British special forces armed with American anti-aircraft missile systems successfully repelled attacks by Argentine troops during the capture of Port Stanley, the main administrative point of the Falkland Islands. British special forces then managed to shoot down a piston attack aircraft of the Argentine Air Force "Pucara" from a portable complex. After a while, following the Argentine attack aircraft, as a result of being hit by an anti-aircraft missile fired from the Stinger, the landing helicopter of the Argentine special forces "Puma" went to the ground.

The limited use of aviation for ground operations during the Anglo-Argentine armed conflict did not allow us to fully disclose combat capabilities new weapons. The fighting took place mainly at sea, where aircraft and warships opposed each other.

There was no clear position in the United States regarding the supply of new Stinger MANPADS to Afghan opposition units. New anti-aircraft missile systems were considered expensive and complex military equipment, which could be mastered and used by semi-legal detachments of Afghan Mujahideen. In addition, the falling of the new weapon as trophies into the hands of Soviet soldiers could be the best evidence of the direct participation of the United States in the armed conflict on the side of the Afghan opposition. Despite fear and apprehension, the Pentagon decided to begin supplying launchers to Afghanistan in 1986. The first batch consisted of 240 launchers and more than one thousand anti-aircraft missiles. The consequences of this step are well known and deserve separate study.

The only digression that should be emphasized. After the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the DRA, the Americans had to buy back the unused anti-aircraft systems remaining in the opposition's arsenal at a price three times higher than the stingers cost at the time of delivery.

Creation and development of Stinger MANPADS

In the American army, until the mid-70s, the main air defense system for infantry units was the FIM-43 Redeye MANPADS. However, with the increase in the flight speed of attack aircraft and the appearance of armor elements on aircraft, more advanced weapons were required. The emphasis was placed on improved technical characteristics of the anti-aircraft missile.

The development of a new air defense system was undertaken by the American company General Dynamics. Design work, which began back in 1967, lasted for seven long years. It was only in 1977 that the design of the future new generation MANPADS was finally outlined. This long delay is explained by the lack of technological capabilities to create a missile thermal guidance system, which was supposed to be the highlight of the new anti-aircraft missile system. The first prototypes entered testing in 1973, but their results were disappointing for the designers. The launcher had large sizes and demanded an increase in the crew to 3 people. The launch mechanism often failed, which led to the spontaneous explosion of the rocket in the launch container. Only in 1979 was it possible to produce a more or less proven batch of anti-aircraft missile systems in the amount of 260 units.

The new air defense system has arrived at American troops for comprehensive field testing. A little later, the army ordered a large batch of MANPADS to the developers - 2250 MANPADS. Having gone through all stages of growth, the MANPADS under the symbol FIM-92 was adopted by the American army in 1981. From that moment on, the parade of these weapons across the planet began. Today, Stingers are known all over the world. This complex was in service with the armies of more than 20 countries. In addition to the US allies in the NATO bloc, Stingers were supplied to South Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia.

During the production process, the following modernizations of the complex were carried out and the Stingers were produced in three versions:

• basic version;
• Stinger FIM-92 RMP (Reprogrammable Microprocessor) version;
• version of Stinger FIM-92 POST (Passive Optical Seeking Technology).

All three modifications had identical tactical and technical characteristics and equipment. The only difference was that the two latest versions homing heads. Missiles with homing warheads were equipped with launchers of modifications A, B and C.

The latest versions of the fim 92 MANPADS are equipped with an anti-aircraft missile, on which there is a high-sensitivity seeker. In addition, missiles began to be equipped with an anti-jamming complex. Another version of the FIM-92D Stingers fires a missile with a POST head, which operates in two bands at once - in the ultraviolet and in the infrared range.

The missiles are equipped with a non-raft target coordinator, which allows microprocessors to independently determine the source of ultraviolet or infrared radiation. As a result, the missile itself scans the horizon for radiation during its flight to the target, choosing the best target option for itself. The most widely produced version in the first period of mass production was the FIM-92B with a POST homing head. However, in 1983, the development company introduced a new, more advanced version of the MANPADS with an anti-aircraft missile equipped with a POST-RMP homing head. This modification had microprocessors that could be reprogrammed in the field in accordance with the combat situation. The launcher was already a portable computing software center that contained removable memory blocks.

The main design features of the Stinger MANPADS include the following:

• the complex has a launch container (TPC) in which an anti-aircraft missile is located. The launcher is equipped with an optical sight, which visually allows not only to identify the target, but also to track it, determine the real distance to the target;
• the starting device has become an order of magnitude more reliable and safer. The mechanism included a cooling unit filled with liquid argon and an electric battery;
• On the latest versions of complexes, “friend/foe” recognition systems are installed, which have electronic filling.

Technical characteristics of MANPADS FIM 92 Stinger

The main technical detail of the design is the canard design used to create the body of anti-aircraft missiles. There are four stabilizers in the bow, two of which are movable and serve as rudders. During flight, the rocket rotates around its own axis. Due to rotation, the rocket maintains stability in flight, which is ensured by the presence of tail stabilizers that open when the rocket exits the launch container.

Due to the use of only two rudders in the rocket design, there was no need to install complex system flight control. The cost of the anti-aircraft missile has decreased accordingly. The launch and subsequent flight are ensured by the operation of a solid fuel rocket engine Atlantic Research Mk27. The engine operates throughout the entire flight of the rocket, providing high flight speeds of up to 700 m/s. The main engine does not start immediately, but with a delay. This technical innovation is caused by the desire to protect the shooter-operator from unforeseen situations.

The weight of the missile warhead does not exceed 3 kg. The main type of charge is high-explosive fragmentation. The missiles were equipped with impact fuses and fuses, which made it possible for the missile to self-destruct if it missed. To transport anti-aircraft missiles, a transport and launch container filled with argon was used. When starting gas mixture destroys the protective covers, allowing the missile's thermal sensors to come into operation, searching for the target using infrared and ultraviolet rays.

The total weight of the Stinger MANPADS when equipped is 15.7 kg. The anti-aircraft missile itself weighs just over 10 kg with a body length of 1.5 meters and a diameter of 70 mm. This arrangement of the anti-aircraft complex allows the operator to single-handedly carry and launch an anti-aircraft missile. Typically, MANPADS crews consist of two people, but according to the staff, it is assumed that MANPADS will be used as part of a battery, where the commander directs all actions, and the operator only carries out commands.

Conclusion

In general, in terms of its tactical and technical characteristics, the American MANPADS FIM 92 is superior to the Soviet man-portable anti-aircraft missile system Strela-2, created back in the 60s. American anti-aircraft systems were no better and no worse than the Soviet man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems "Igla-1" and the subsequent modification "Igla-2", which had similar performance characteristics and could compete American weapons on the market.

It should be noted that the Soviet Strela-2 MANPADS managed to significantly fray the nerves of the Americans during Vietnam War. The appearance of the new Igla complex in the USSR did not pass without a trace, which leveled the chances of the two superpowers in the arms market in this segment. However, the unexpected appearance of a new MANPADS in service with the Afghan Mujahideen in 1986 significantly changed the tactical conditions for the use of Soviet aviation. Even taking into account the fact that Stingers rarely fell into capable hands, the damage from their use was significant. In the first month alone of using the Fim 92 MANPADS in the skies of Afghanistan, the Soviet Air Force lost up to 10 aircraft and helicopters various types. Su-25 attack aircraft, transport aircraft and helicopters were especially hard hit. Heat traps were urgently installed on Soviet aircraft that could confuse the missile guidance system.

Only a year later, after the Stingers were used for the first time in Afghanistan, did Soviet aviation manage to find countermeasures against these weapons. Over the entire year of 1987, Soviet aviation lost only eight aircraft to attacks from portable anti-aircraft systems. These were mainly transport planes and helicopters.

11.03.2015, 13:32

Comparative characteristics portable anti-aircraft missile systems in the world.

On March 11, 1981, the Igla-1 man-portable anti-aircraft missile system was put into service. It replaced the Strela MANPADS, making it possible to hit enemy aircraft with greater accuracy in all angles of their movement. The Americans had an analogue in the same year. French and British designers have achieved significant success in this area.

Background

The idea of ​​hitting air targets not with anti-aircraft artillery fire, but with missiles appeared back in 1917 in Great Britain. However, it was impossible to implement it due to the weakness of technology. In the mid-30s, S.P. Korolev became interested in the problem. But even his work did not go beyond laboratory tests of missiles guided by a searchlight beam.

The first anti-aircraft missile system, the S-25, was made in the Soviet Union in 1955. An analogue appeared in the USA three years later. But these were complex rocket launchers transported on tractors, the deployment and movement of which required considerable time. In field conditions on very rough terrain, their use was impossible.

In this connection, the designers began to create portable complexes that could be controlled by one person. True, such weapons already existed. At the end of World War II in Germany, and in the 60s in the USSR, anti-aircraft grenade launchers were created, which did not go into production. These were multi-barreled (up to 8 barrels) portable launchers that fired in one gulp. However, their effectiveness was low due to the fact that the fired projectiles did not have any target guidance system.

The need for MANPADS arose in connection with the increasing role of attack aircraft in military operations. Also, one of the most important goals of creating MANPADS was to supply them to irregular armies for partisan groups. Both the USSR and the USA were interested in this, since they provided assistance to non-governmental groups in all parts of the world. The Soviet Union supported the so-called liberation movements socialist orientation, the USA - rebels who fought with government troops of countries where the socialist idea was already beginning to take root.

The British made the first MANPADS in 1966. However, they chose an ineffective method of guiding Blowpipe missiles - radio command. And although this complex was produced until 1993, it was not popular among the partisans.

The first sufficiently effective MANPADS "Strela" appeared in the USSR in 1967. His missile used a thermal homing head. “Strela” performed well during the Vietnam War - with its help, partisans shot down more than 200 American helicopters and aircraft, including supersonic ones. In 1968, the Americans also had a similar complex - Redeye. It was based on the same principles and had similar parameters. However, arming the Afghan Mujahideen with it did not produce tangible results, since new generation Soviet aircraft were already flying in the Afghan skies. And only the appearance of the Stingers became sensitive for Soviet aviation.

The first MANPADS had certain problems, in particular regarding target designation, which were solved in the next generation complexes.

"Strela" is replaced by "Needle"

The Igla MANPADS, developed at the Kolomna Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering (chief designer S.P. Nepobedimy) and put into service on March 11, 1981, is still in use today in three modifications. It is used in the armies of 35 countries, including not only our former fellow travelers on the socialist path, but also, for example, South Korea, Brazil, and Pakistan.

The main differences between the “Igla” and the “Strela” are the presence of a “friend or foe” interrogator, a more advanced method of guiding and controlling the missile, and a greater power of the warhead. An electronic tablet was also introduced into the complex, on which, based on incoming information from the division’s air defense systems, up to four targets present in a 25x25 km square were displayed.

Additional striking power was obtained due to the fact that in the new missile, at the moment of hitting the target, not only the warhead, but also the unspent fuel of the main engine was detonated.

If the first modification of the Strela could hit targets only on catch-up courses, then this drawback was eliminated by cooling the homing head with liquid nitrogen. This made it possible to increase the sensitivity of the infrared radiation receiver and obtain more contrasting target visibility. Thanks to this technical solution, it became possible to hit targets from all angles, including those flying towards them.

The use of MANPADS in Vietnam made it possible to push low-flying attack aircraft to medium altitudes, where they were dealt with by the SAM-75 and anti-aircraft artillery.

However, by the end of the 70s, the use of false thermal targets by aircraft - fired squibs captured by IR sensors - significantly reduced the effectiveness of the Strela. In "Igla" this problem was solved due to the complex technical events. These include increasing the sensitivity of the homing head (GOS) and the use of a two-channel system in it. Also, a logical block for identifying true targets against the background of interference has been introduced into the seeker.

“Igla” has another significant advantage. Previous generation missiles were precisely aimed at the most powerful heat source, that is, the aircraft engine nozzle. However, this part of the aircraft is not too vulnerable due to the use of particularly durable materials. In the Igla missile defense system, aiming occurs with a shift - the missile hits not the nozzle, but the least protected areas of the aircraft.

Thanks to its new qualities, Igla is capable of hitting not only supersonic aircraft, but also cruise missiles.

Since 1981, MANPADS have been periodically modernized. The army is now receiving the latest Igla-S complexes, which were put into service in 2002.

American, French and British complexes

The American new generation MANPADS “Stinger” also appeared in 1981. And two years later it began to be actively used by dushmans during the Afghan War. At the same time, it is difficult to talk about real statistics on the destruction of targets using it. In total, about 170 Soviet planes and helicopters were shot down. However, the Mujahideen equally used not only American portable weapons, but also Soviet Strela-2 complexes.

MANPADS "Stinger"

The first Stingers and Needles had approximately the same parameters. The same can be said about the latest models. However, there are significant differences regarding the flight dynamics, the seeker, and the detonation mechanism. Russian missiles are equipped with a “vortex generator” - an induction system that is triggered when flying near a metal target. This system more effective than infrared, laser or radio fuses on foreign MANPADS.

The Igla has a dual-mode propulsion engine, while the Stinger has a single-mode propulsion engine, so the Russian missile has more and average speed(although the maximum is lower), and flight range. But at the same time, the Stinger’s seeker operates not only in the infrared, but also in the ultraviolet range.

MANPADS "Mistral"

The French Mistral MANPADS, which appeared in 1988, has an original seeker. She was simply taken from an air-to-air missile and driven into the “pipe”. This solution allows a mosaic-type infrared seeker to capture fighters from the front hemisphere at a range of 6-7 km. The launcher is equipped with a night vision device and a radio sight.

In 1997, the Starstrake MANPADS was adopted in Great Britain. This is a very expensive weapon, significantly different from traditional designs. Firstly, a module with three missiles flies out of the “pipe”. It is equipped with four semi-active laser seekers - one common and one for each detachable warhead. Separation occurs at a distance of 3 km to the target, when the heads capture it. The firing range reaches 7 km. Moreover, this range is applicable even for helicopters with an ECU (a device that reduces the exhaust temperature). For thermal seekers, in this case this distance does not exceed 2 km. And one more important feature is that the warheads are kinetic fragmentation warheads, that is, they do not have explosives.

Performance characteristics of MANPADS "Igla-S", "Stinger", "Mistral", "Starstrake"

Firing range: 6000 km – 4500 m – 6000 m – 7000 m
Height of targets hit: 3500 m – 3500 m – 3000 m – 1000 m
Target speed (oncoming course/catching course): 400 m/s / 320 m/s – n/a – n/a – n/a

Maximum rocket speed: 570 m/s – 700 m/s – 860 m/s – 1300 m/s
Rocket weight: 11.7 kg – 10.1 kg – 17 kg – 14 kg
Warhead weight: 2.5 kg – 2.3 kg – 3 kg – 0.9 kg

Rocket length: 1630 mm – 1500 mm – 1800 mm – 1390 mm
Rocket diameter: 72 mm – 70 mm – 90 mm – 130 mm
GOS: IR - IR and UV - IR - laser.

News Media2

Mediametrics.ru

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MANPADS "Stinger"

The Stinger man-portable anti-aircraft missile system (MANPADS) is designed to destroy both aircraft, including supersonic ones, and helicopters flying at low and extremely low altitudes on both catch-up and oncoming courses. This complex, the creation of which by General Dynamics, made, according to foreign experts, a significant contribution to the development military air defense The USA is the most widespread means of combating air targets in service with foreign armies.

To date, three modifications have been developed: "Stinger"(basic), "Stinger-POST" (POST - Passive Optical Seeker Technology) And "Stinger-RMP" (RMP - Reprogrammable Micro Processor). They have the same composition of weapons, as well as the values ​​of the firing range (0.5 km minimum and 5.5 km maximum when firing after) and target engagement height (3.5 km maximum), differing only in the homing heads (GOS) used on anti-aircraft guns. guided missiles FIM-92 modifications A, B and C, corresponding to the three modifications of MANPADS listed above.

The development of the Stinger complex was preceded by work under the ASDP program ( ASDP - Advanced Seeker Development Program), which began back in the mid-60s, shortly before the deployment of mass production of Red Eye MANPADS, and aimed at theoretical development and experimental confirmation of the feasibility of the concept of the Red Eye-2 complex with a missile on which all-angle infrared was to be used GOS. The successful implementation of the ASDP program, as follows from Western press publications, allowed the US Department of Defense in 1972 to begin financing the development of a promising MANPADS, which received the name "Stinger" ("Stinging Insect"). This development, despite the difficulties encountered during its implementation, was completed by 1978, and General Dynamics began production of the first batch of samples, which were tested during 1979-1980.

The test results of the Stinger MANPADS with the FIM-92A missile equipped with an infrared seeker (wavelength range 4.1-4.4 microns), which confirmed its ability to hit targets on collision courses, allowed the leadership of the Ministry of Defense to make a decision on serial production and supplies with 1981 complex to US ground forces in Europe. However, the number of MANPADS of this modification, provided for in the original production program, was significantly reduced due to achieved successes in the development of GSN POST, which began in 1977 and by that time was at its final stage.

	Launch of the Stinger MANPADS

Dual-band seeker POST used on missile defense systems FIM-92B, operates in the IR and ultraviolet (UV) wavelength ranges. Unlike the IR seeker of the FIM-92A missile, where information about the position of the target relative to its optical axis is extracted from a signal modulated by a rotating raster, it uses a be-raster target coordinator. Its IR and UV radiation detectors, operating in one circuit with two digital microprocessors, allow rosette-shaped scanning, which, judging by the materials of the foreign military press, provides, firstly, high target selection capabilities in conditions of background interference, and secondly, protection from IR countermeasures.

The production of the FIM-92В missile defense system with the POST seeker began in 1983, however, due to the fact that in 1985 the General Dynamics company began creating missile defense systems FIM-92C, the rate of release was reduced compared to previously envisaged. The new missile, the development of which was completed in 1987, uses the POST-RMP seeker with a reprogrammable microprocessor, which provides the ability to adapt the characteristics of the guidance system to the target and jamming environment by selecting appropriate programs. Replaceable memory blocks in which standard programs are stored are installed in the housing of the trigger mechanism of the Stinger-RMP MANPADS.

In the foreign press reporting the creation of the Stinger-RMP MANPADS as a major achievement in the use of the latest American technology in military field, it is indicated that by 1987, about 16 thousand MANPADS of the basic modification and 560 Stinger-POST complexes were produced in the USA, General Dynamics, which has already produced about 25 thousand MANPADS "Stinger-RMP", received a contract worth $695 million for the production of 20 thousand such complexes, although, as noted, this number does not fully satisfy the needs of the US armed forces.

	Scheme of MANPADS "Stinger"

The Stinger MANPADS of all modifications consists of the following main elements:

• SAM in a transport and launch container (TPK),
• optical sight for visual detection and tracking of an air target, as well as approximate determination of the range to it,
• trigger mechanism,
• power supply and cooling unit with an electric battery and a container with liquid argon,
• “friend or foe” identification equipment AN/PPX-1.

The latter's electronic unit is worn on the anti-aircraft gunner's waist belt. The mass of the complex in combat position is 15.7 kg.

The rocket is made according to the canard aerodynamic configuration and has a launch mass of 10.1 kg. In the bow there are four aerodynamic surfaces, two of which are rudders, and the other two remain stationary relative to the missile defense body. To control using one pair of aerodynamic rudders, the rocket rotates around its longitudinal axis, and the control signals supplied to the rudders are consistent with its movement relative to this axis. The rocket acquires its initial rotation due to the inclined position of the launch accelerator nozzles relative to the body. To maintain the rotation of the missile in flight, the planes of the tail stabilizer, which, like the rudders, open when the missile exits the TPK, are installed at a certain angle to its body. Control using one pair of rudders made it possible to achieve a significant reduction in the weight and cost of flight control equipment.

A solid-fuel dual-mode propulsion engine ensures acceleration of the rocket to a speed corresponding to Mach number = 2.2 and maintaining relatively high speed during the entire time of its flight to the target. This engine is switched on after the launch accelerator is separated and the missile is removed from the firing position to a safe distance for the gunner-operator (about 8 m).

The combat equipment of the missile defense system, weighing about 3 kg, consists of a high-explosive fragmentation warhead, an impact fuse and a safety-actuating mechanism that ensures the removal of the fuse safety stages and issuing a command to self-destruct the missile in case of a miss.

MANPADS "Stinger" and its anti-aircraft missile

The missile defense system is housed in a sealed cylindrical fiberglass TPK filled with inert gas. Both ends of the container are closed with lids that collapse during startup. The front one is made of material that transmits IR and UV radiation, which allows the seeker to capture a target without breaking the seal. The tightness of the container and the sufficiently high reliability of the missile defense equipment ensure that missiles are stored by troops without maintenance or inspection for ten years.

The launch mechanism, with the help of which the rocket is prepared for launch and the launch is carried out, is attached to the TPK using special locks. The electric battery of the power supply and cooling unit (this unit is installed in the trigger housing in preparation for firing) is connected to the on-board network of the rocket through a plug connector, and the container with liquid argon is connected to the cooling system line through a fitting. On the lower surface of the trigger mechanism there is a plug connector for connecting the electronic unit of the “friend or foe” identification equipment, and on the handle there is a trigger with one neutral and two operating positions. When you press the trigger and move it to the first operating position, the power supply and cooling unit is activated, as a result of which electricity from the battery (voltage 20 V, operating time of at least 45 s) and liquid argon enter on board the rocket, providing cooling for the seeker detectors, spinning up the gyroscope and performing other operations related to preparing the missile defense system for launch. With further pressure on the trigger and its occupation of the second operating position, the on-board electric battery is activated, capable of powering the electronic equipment of the rocket for 19 s, and the igniter of the missile launching engine is activated.

During combat operations, data on targets comes from an external detection and target designation system or from the crew number conducting airspace surveillance. After detecting a target, the shooter-operator places the MANPADS on his shoulder and points it at the selected target. When the missile seeker captures it and begins to accompany it, the sound signal and vibration device turn on optical sight, to which the shooter presses his cheek, warns of target acquisition. Then pressing the button will release the gyroscope. Before launch, the operator enters the required lead angles. With his index finger he presses the trigger guard, and the on-board battery begins to work. When it returns to normal mode, the cartridge with compressed gas is activated, which discards the tear-off plug, turning off the power from the power supply and cooling unit and turning on the squib to start the starting engine.

Combat crew of the Stinger MANPADS

The Stinger MANPADS are in service with a number of countries, including Western European partners of the United States in NATO (Greece, Denmark, Italy, Turkey, Germany), as well as Israel, South Korea and Japan. Since the fall of 1986, the complex has been used by the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. Since the early 1990s, preparations have been underway for the production of Stinger MANPADS in Europe. Companies from Germany, Turkey, the Netherlands and Greece will take part in it (the parent company is Dornier). The governments of these countries, as reported in the foreign press, have committed themselves to allocate 36, 40, 15 and 9 percent, respectively. appropriations necessary to implement the program. It is expected that after the first stage of production (which will begin in 1992), 4800, 4500 and 1700 Stinger MANPADS will be supplied to Germany, Turkey and the Netherlands.

Sources of information

A. Tolin "AMERICAN MANPADS "STINGER". Foreign Military Review No. 1, 1991

The portable anti-aircraft missile system is designed to destroy aircraft (including supersonic ones) and helicopters flying at low and extremely low altitudes. Firing can be carried out both on catch-up and on collision courses. The development of the complex by General Dynamics began in 1972. The basis was the work carried out under the ASDP (Advanced Seeker Development) program, which began in the late 60s shortly before the start of mass production of the Red Eye MANPADS. The development was completed in 1978, when the company began production of the first batch of samples, which were tested in 1979-1980. Since 1981, the complex has been mass-produced and supplied to the ground forces of the United States and various European countries.

A MANPADS consists of a missile defense system in a transport and launch container (TPC), an optical sight for visual detection and tracking of an air target, as well as approximate determination of the range to it, a trigger mechanism, a power supply and cooling unit with an electric battery and a container with liquid argon, identification equipment “ friend or foe AN/PPX-1. The latter's electronic unit is worn in the anti-aircraft gunner's belt.

The rocket is made according to the canard aerodynamic design. In the bow there are four aerodynamic surfaces, two of which are rudders, and the other two remain stationary relative to the missile defense body. To control using one pair of aerodynamic rudders, the rocket rotates about its longitudinal axis, and the control signals supplied to the rudders are consistent with its movement relative to this axis. The rocket acquires its initial rotation due to the inclined position of the launch accelerator nozzles relative to the body. To maintain the rotation of the missile defense system in flight, the planes of the tail stabilizer are installed at a certain angle to its body. Controlling the flight of the missile defense system using one pair of rudders made it possible to significantly reduce the weight and cost of flight control equipment. The rocket's solid propellant propulsion engine accelerates it to a speed equal to M2.2. The engine is turned on after the launch accelerator is separated and the rocket is removed from the shooter at a distance of about 8 m.

The combat equipment of the missile defense system consists of a high-explosive fragmentation warhead, an impact-type fuse and a safety-actuating mechanism that ensures the removal of the fuse safety stages and the issuance of a self-destruct command in the event of a missile miss.

The missile is housed in a cylindrical sealed transport and launch container made of fiberglass. The ends of the container are closed with lids that collapse during rocket launch. The front is made of ultraviolet and infrared radiation material, which allows the seeker to capture the target without destroying the seal. The tightness of the TPK allows missiles to be stored without maintenance or inspection for 10 years.

To date, three modifications of MANPADS have been developed: “Stinger” (basic), “Stinger” POST (POST - Passive Optical Seeket Technology) and “Stinger-RMP” (RMP - Reprogrammable Micro Processor). The modifications differ in the types of homing heads used on PM-92 anti-aircraft guided missiles of modifications A, B and C, respectively.

The trigger mechanism, which is used to prepare and launch the rocket, is connected to the TPK with special locks. The electric battery of the power supply and cooling unit is connected to the rocket's on-board network through a plug connector, and the container with liquid argon is connected to the cooling system through a fitting. On the lower surface of the trigger mechanism there is a connector for connecting identification equipment, and on the handle there is a trigger with one neutral and two operating positions. When it is moved to the first operating position, the power supply and cooling unit is activated, the gyroscopes are spun up and the rocket is prepared for launch. In the second position, the on-board electric battery is activated and the igniter of the missile launching engine is activated.

Stinger MANPADS simulator

The FIM-92A missile is equipped with an IR seeker operating in the range of 4.1-4.4 microns. The FIM-92B missile seeker operates in the IR and UV ranges. Unlike the FIM-92A, where information about the target's position relative to its optical axis is extracted from a signal modulated by a rotating raster, it uses a rasterless target coordinator. Its IR and UV detectors, operating in a single circuit with two microprocessors, allow rosette scanning, which, according to foreign press, provides high target selection capabilities in conditions of background interference, as well as protection against countermeasures in the IR range. Production of the rocket began in 1983.

The FIM-92C missile, the development of which was completed in 1987, uses the POST RMP seeker with a reprogrammable microprocessor, which ensures that the characteristics of the guidance system are adapted to the target and jamming environment by selecting appropriate programs. Replaceable memory blocks in which standard programs are stored are installed in the housing of the MANPADS trigger mechanism.

The main firing unit of the Stinger MANPADS is a crew consisting of a commander and a gunner-operator, who have at their disposal six missiles in the TPK, an electronic warning and display unit for the air situation, as well as an M998 Hummer all-terrain vehicle.

Since the fall of 1986, the complex was used by the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, when (according to foreign press reports) more than 250 planes and helicopters were destroyed. Despite the poor training of the Mujahideen, more than 80% of the launches were successful.

In 1986-87 France and Chad carried out a limited number of Stinger launches against Libyan aircraft. British forces used a small number of Stingers during the Falklands conflict in 1982 and shot down an Argentine IA58A Pucara attack aircraft.

MANPADS "Stinger" of various modifications were supplied to the following countries: Afghanistan (Mujahideen partisan formations) - FIM-92A, Algeria - FIM-92A, Angola (UNITA) - FIM-92A, Bahrain - FIM-92A, Great Britain - FIM-92C, Germany - FIM-92A/C, Denmark - FIM-92A, Egypt FIM-92A, Israel - FIM-92C, Iran - FIM-92A, Italy - FIM-92A, Greece - FIM-92A/C, Kuwait - FIM-92A/ C, Netherlands - FIM-92A/C, Qatar - FIM-92A, Pakistan - FIM-92A, Saudi Arabia - FIM-92A/C, USA - FIM-92A/B/C/D, Taiwan - FIM-92C, Turkey - FIM-92A/C, France - FIM-92A, Switzerland - FIM-92C, Chad - FIM-92A, Chechnya - FIM-92A, Croatia - FIM-92A, South Korea - FIM-92A, Japan - FIM-92A.

MANPADS "Stinger" with a missile and an electronic identification system unit

Chronicle of the "Afghan War". "Stinger" against helicopters: special forces against "Stinger"

When in 1986 the United States began supplying Stinger MANPADS to the Afghan mujahideen, the OKSV command promised the title of Hero Soviet Union anyone who captures this complex in good condition. During the years of the Afghan War, Soviet special forces managed to obtain 8 (!) serviceable Stinger MANPADS, but none of them became a Hero.

"Stinging" for the Mujahideen

Modern combat operations are unthinkable without aviation. Since the Second World War to the present day, gaining air supremacy has been one of the primary tasks ensuring victory on the ground. However, air supremacy is achieved not only by aviation itself, but also by air defense, which neutralizes enemy air forces. In the second half of the 20th century. Anti-aircraft guided missiles are appearing in the air defense arsenal of the world's leading armies. The new weapons were divided into several classes: long-range, medium-range, short-range anti-aircraft missiles and short-range anti-aircraft missile systems. The main short-range air defense systems, which are tasked with combating helicopters and attack aircraft at low and extremely low altitudes, have become man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems - MANPADS.

Helicopters, which became widespread after World War II, significantly increased the maneuverability of ground and military units. airborne troops in defeating enemy troops in his tactical and operational-tactical rear, pinning the enemy in maneuver, capturing important objects, etc., they have become the most effective means of combating tanks and other small targets. Airmobile actions of infantry units became the hallmark of armed conflicts of the second half of the 20th century - beginning of the XXI century, where one of the warring parties, as a rule, are irregular armed formations. With such an enemy, the domestic armed forces in new history our countries collided in Afghanistan in 1979-1989, where the Soviet army for the first time had to wage a large-scale counter-guerrilla fight. There could be no question of the effectiveness of combat operations against rebels in the mountains without the use of army and front-line aviation. It was on her shoulders that the entire burden of aviation support for the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces in Afghanistan (OKSVA) was placed. The Afghan rebels suffered significant losses from air strikes and airmobile actions of infantry units and OKSVA special forces, so the most serious attention was paid to the issue of combating aviation. The armed Afghan opposition constantly increased the air defense fire capabilities of its units. Already by the mid-80s. of the last century, the rebels had in their arsenal a sufficient number of short-range anti-aircraft weapons that optimally suited the tactics of guerrilla warfare. The main air defense systems of the armed formations of the Afghan opposition were 12.7 mm DShK machine guns, 14.5 mm ZGU-1 mountain anti-aircraft guns, ZPGU-2 twin anti-aircraft machine guns, 20 mm and 23 mm anti-aircraft guns, as well as man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems.

MANPADS missile "Stinger"

By the beginning of the 1980s. In the USA, the company "General Dynamics" created the second generation MANPADS "Stinger". Man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems of the second generation have:
an improved IR seeker (infrared homing head), capable of operating at two separated wavelengths;
long-wave IR seeker, providing all-angle guidance of the missile to the target, including from the front hemisphere;
a microprocessor that distinguishes a real target from fired IR traps;
cooled IR homing sensor, allowing the missile to more effectively resist interference and attack low-flying targets;
short time reactions to the target;
increased firing range at targets on a collision course;
greater missile guidance accuracy and target hit efficiency compared to first-generation MANPADS;
“friend or foe” identification equipment;
means for automating launch processes and preliminary target designation for gunner operators. The second generation MANPADS also include the Strela-3 and Igla complexes developed in the USSR. The basic version of the FIM-92A Stinger missile was equipped with a single-channel all-angle IR seeker
with a cooled receiver operating in the wavelength range of 4.1-4.4 microns, an efficient sustainer dual-mode solid propellant engine that accelerates the rocket within 6 seconds to a speed of about 700 m/s.

The “Stinger-POST” (POST - Passive Optical Seeker Technology) variant with the FIM-92B missile became the first representative of the third generation MANPADS. The seeker used in the missile operates in the IR and UV wavelength ranges, which provides high performance in selecting air targets in conditions of background interference.

Both versions of the Stinger missiles have been used in Afghanistan since 1986.

Of the entire listed arsenal of air defense systems, the most effective for combating low-flying targets, of course, were MANPADS. Unlike anti-aircraft machine guns and cannons, they have a greater range of effective fire and are more likely to hit high-speed targets, are mobile, easy to use and do not require lengthy crew training. Modern MANPADS are ideal for partisans and reconnaissance units operating behind enemy lines to combat helicopters and low-flying aircraft. The most widespread MANPADS of the Afghan rebels throughout the “Afghan war” remained the Chinese anti-aircraft complex “Hunyin-5” (analogous to the domestic MANPADS “Strela-2”). Chinese MANPADS, as well as a small number of similar Egyptian-made SA-7 complexes (Strela-2 MANPADS in NATO terminology) began to enter service with the rebels from the early 80s. Until the mid-80s. they were used by Afghan rebels mainly to cover their targets from air strikes, and were part of the so-called air defense system of fortified base areas. However, in 1986, American and Pakistani military advisers and experts supervising Afghan illegal armed groups, having analyzed the dynamics of rebel losses from air strikes and systematic airmobile actions of Soviet special forces and infantry units, decided to increase the combat capabilities of the Mujahideen air defense by supplying them with American Stinger MANPADS. ("Stinging"). With the advent of the Stinger MANPADS among the rebel formations, it became the main weapon of fire when setting up anti-aircraft ambushes near the airfields of the army, front-line and military transport aviation of our Air Force in Afghanistan and the government Afghan Air Force.

MANPADS "Strela-2". USSR (“Hunyin-5”. DPRK)

Pentagon and US CIA arming Afghan insurgents anti-aircraft missiles"Stinger" pursued a number of goals, one of which was the opportunity to test new MANPADS in real combat conditions. By supplying modern MANPADS to the Afghan rebels, the Americans “tried them on” to supplying Soviet weapons to Vietnam, where the United States lost hundreds of helicopters and planes shot down by Soviet missiles. But the Soviet Union provided legal assistance to the government sovereign country, fighting the aggressor, and American politicians armed the anti-government armed forces of the Mujahideen (“international terrorists” - according to the current American classification).

Despite the strictest secrecy, the first reports of funds mass media The supply of several hundred Stinger MANPADS to the Afghan opposition appeared in the summer of 1986. American anti-aircraft systems were delivered from the United States by sea to the Pakistani port of Karachi, and then transported by vehicles of the Pakistani Armed Forces to Mujahideen training camps. The US CIA supplied missiles and trained Afghan rebels in the vicinity of the Pakistani city of Rualpindi. After preparing the calculations at the training center, they, together with the MANPADS, were sent to Afghanistan in pack caravans and vehicles.

Launch of the Stinger MANPADS missile

Gafar strikes

Details of the first use of Stinger MANPADS by Afghan rebels are described by the head of the Afghan department of the Pakistan Intelligence Center (1983-1987), General Mohammad Yusuf, in the book “Bear Trap”: “On September 25, 1986, about thirty-five Mujahideen secretly made their way to the foot of a small high-rise overgrown with bushes, located only one and a half kilometers northeast of the Jalalabad airfield runway... The fire crews were within shouting distance of each other, located in a triangle in the bushes, since no one knew from which direction the target might appear. We organized each crew in such a way that three people fired, and the other two held containers with missiles for quick reloading.... Each of the Mujahideen selected a helicopter through an open sight on launcher, the “friend or foe” system signaled with an intermittent signal that an enemy target had appeared in the coverage area, and the “Stinger” captured thermal radiation from the helicopter engines with its guidance head... When the leading helicopter was only 200 m above the ground, Gafar commanded: “Fire "... One of the three missiles did not work and fell without exploding, just a few meters from the shooter. The other two crashed into their targets... Two more missiles went into the air, one hit the target as successfully as the previous two, and the second passed very close, since the helicopter had already landed... In the following months, he (Gafar) shot down ten more helicopters and planes using Stingers.

Mujahideen of Ghafar to the outskirts of Jalalabad

Combat helicopter Mi-24P

In fact, two rotorcraft of the 335th separate combat helicopter regiment, returning from a combat mission, were shot down over the Jalalabad airfield. While approaching the airfield on the pre-landing straight, the Mi-8MT captain A. Giniyatulin was hit by two Stinger MANPADS missiles and exploded in the air. The crew commander and flight engineer, Lieutenant O. Shebanov, were killed, pilot-navigator Nikolai Gerner was thrown out by the blast wave and remained alive. The helicopter of Lieutenant E. Pogorely was sent to the Mi-8MT crash area, but at an altitude of 150 m his vehicle was hit by a MANPADS missile. The pilot managed to make a rough landing, as a result of which the helicopter was destroyed. The commander was seriously injured, from which he died in the hospital. The remaining crew members survived.

The Soviet command only guessed that the rebels used Stinger MANPADS. We were able to materially prove the use of Stinger MANPADS in Afghanistan only on November 29, 1986. The same group of “Engineer Gafar” staged an anti-aircraft ambush 15 km north of Jalalabad on the slope of Mount Wachhangar (elevation 1423) and as a result of firing with five Stinger missiles The helicopter group destroyed the Mi-24 and Mi-8MT (three missile hits were recorded). The crew of the slave helicopter - Art. Lieutenant V. Ksenzov and Lieutenant A. Neunylov died when they fell under the main rotor during an emergency ejection. The crew of the second helicopter hit by the missile managed to make an emergency landing and leave the burning car. The general from the TurkVO headquarters, who was at that time in the Jalalabad garrison, did not believe the report that two helicopters were hit by anti-aircraft missiles, accusing the pilots of “the helicopters colliding in the air.” It is not known how, but the aviators nevertheless convinced the general that “spirits” were involved in the plane crash. The 2nd alarm was raised motorized rifle battalion 66th separate motorized rifle brigade and 1st company of the 154th separate detachment special purpose. The special forces and infantry were tasked with finding parts of an anti-aircraft missile or other material evidence of the use of MANPADS, otherwise all the blame for the plane crash would have been placed on the surviving crews... Only after a day had passed (the general took a long time to make a decision...) by the morning of November 30 in Search units arrived in the area of ​​the helicopter crash in armored vehicles. There could no longer be any talk of intercepting the enemy. Our company failed to find anything other than burnt fragments of the helicopters and the remains of the crew. The 6th Company of the 66th Motorized Rifle Brigade, when inspecting the probable missile launch site, quite accurately indicated by the helicopter pilots, discovered three, and then two more starting expulsion charges of the Stinger MANPADS. This was the first material evidence of the United States supplying anti-aircraft missiles to Afghan anti-government armed forces. The company commander who discovered them was presented with the Order of the Red Banner.

Mi-24, hit by fire from a Stinger MANPADS. Eastern Afghanistan, 1988

A careful study of traces of the enemy's presence (one firing position was located at the top and one in the lower third of the slope of the ridge) showed that an anti-aircraft ambush had been set up here in advance. The enemy waited for a suitable target and the moment to open fire for one or two days.

Hunt for Gafar

The OKSVA command also organized a hunt for the “Engineer Gafar” anti-aircraft group, whose area of ​​activity was the eastern Afghan provinces of Nangar-har, Laghman and Kunar. It was his group that was battered on November 9, 1986 by a reconnaissance detachment of the 3rd company of the 154 ooSpN (15 obrSpN), destroying several rebels and pack animals 6 km southwest of the village of Mangval in the province of Kunar. The intelligence officers then seized a portable American shortwave radio station, which was supplied to CIA agents. Gafar took revenge immediately. Three days later, from an anti-aircraft ambush 3 km southeast of the village of Mangval (30 km northeast of Jalalabad), a Mi-24 helicopter of the 335th “Jalalabad” helicopter regiment was shot down by fire from a Stinger MANPADS. Escorting several Mi-8MTs performing an ambulance flight from Asadabad to the hospital of the Jalalabad garrison, a pair of Mi-24s crossed the ridge at an altitude of 300 m without shooting IR traps. A helicopter shot down by a MANPADS missile fell into a gorge. The commander and pilot-operator left the plane using a parachute from a height of 100 m and were picked up by their comrades. Special forces were sent to search for the flight technician. This time, squeezing the maximum permissible speed out of infantry fighting vehicles, the scouts of 154 ooSpN arrived in the area where the helicopter crashed in less than 2 hours. The 1st company of the detachment dismounted from the “armor” and began to be drawn into the gorge in two columns (along the bottom of the gorge itself and its right ridge) simultaneously with the arriving helicopters of the 335th Airborne Regiment. The helicopters came from the northeast, but the Mujahideen managed to launch MANPADS from the ruins of a village on the northern slope of the gorge to catch up with the leading twenty-four. The “spirits” miscalculated twice: the first time - when launching towards the setting sun, the second time - without finding out that the couple’s unknown helicopter was flying behind the lead vehicle (as usual), but four flights of combat Mi-24s. Fortunately, the missile missed the target just slightly. Its self-destructor worked late, and the exploding rocket did not harm the helicopter. Having quickly taken stock of the situation, the pilots launched a massive air strike against the position of the anti-aircraft gunners with sixteen rotary-wing combat vehicles. The aviators did not spare ammunition... The remains of the flight equipment of the station were picked up from the site of the helicopter crash. Lieutenant V. Yakovlev.

At the crash site of the helicopter shot down by the Stinger

The special forces who captured the first Stinger. In the center is Senior Lieutenant Vladimir Kovtun.

Fragment of a Mi-24 helicopter

Parachute canopy on the ground

The first Stinger

The first portable anti-aircraft missile system "Stinger" was captured by Soviet troops in Afghanistan on January 5, 1987. During aerial reconnaissance of the area, a reconnaissance group of senior lieutenant Vladimir Kovtun and lieutenant Vasily Cheboksarov of the 186th separate special forces detachment (22 special forces) under the overall command of the deputy commander Major Evgeniy Sergeev’s detachment in the vicinity of the village of Seyid Umar Kalai spotted three motorcyclists in the Meltakai Gorge. Vladimir Kovtun described further actions as follows: “Seeing our helicopters, they quickly dismounted and opened fire with small arms, and also made two quick launches from MANPADS, but at first we mistook these launches for shots from an RPG. The pilots immediately made a sharp turn and sat down. Already when we left the board, the commander managed to shout to us: “They are shooting from grenade launchers.” The twenty-fours covered us from the air, and we, having landed, started a battle on the ground.” Helicopters and special forces opened fire on the rebels, destroying them with NURS and small arms fire. Only the leading plane, on which there were only five special forces soldiers, landed on the ground, and the leading Mi-8 with Cheboksarov’s group provided insurance from the air. During the inspection of the destroyed enemy, Senior Lieutenant V. Kovtun seized a launch container, a hardware unit for the Stinger MANPADS and a complete set of technical documentation from the rebel he destroyed. One combat-ready complex, strapped to a motorcycle, was captured by captain E. Sergeev, and another empty container and a missile were captured by the group’s reconnaissance officers, who landed from a follower helicopter. During the battle, a group of 16 rebels was destroyed and one was captured. The “spirits” did not have time to take up positions for setting up an anti-aircraft ambush.

MANPADS "Stinger" and its standard closure

Helicopter pilots with special forces on board were several minutes ahead of them. Later, everyone who wanted to become one of the heroes of the day latched on to the glory of helicopter pilots and special forces soldiers. Still, “Special forces captured the Stingers!” - the whole of Afghanistan thundered. The official version of the capture of an American MANPADS looked like special operation with the participation of agents who tracked the entire delivery route of the Stingers from the arsenals of the US Army to the village of Seyid Umar Kalai. Naturally, all the “sisters received earrings,” but they forgot about the true participants in the capture of the Stinger, having bought off several orders and medals, but it was promised that whoever captured the Stinger first would receive the title “Hero of the Soviet Union.”

The first two Stinger MANPADS captured by special forces of the 186th Special Forces. January 1986

National reconciliation

With the capture of the first American MANPADS, the hunt for the Stinger did not stop. The GRU special forces were tasked with preventing them from saturating the enemy’s armed formations. All winter 1986-1987. Special forces units of a limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan were hunting for Stingers, having the task not so much of preventing their arrival (which was unrealistic), but of preventing their rapid spread throughout Afghanistan. By this time, two special forces brigades were based in Afghanistan (15th and 22nd separate brigades special forces) and the 459th separate special forces company of the 40th combined arms army. However, the special forces did not receive any preferences. January 1987 was marked by an event of “tremendous political importance,” as Soviet newspapers wrote at the time—the beginning of a policy of national reconciliation. Its consequences for OKSVA turned out to be much more destructive than the supply of American anti-aircraft missiles to the armed Afghan opposition. Unilateral reconciliation without taking into account military-political realities limited the active offensive actions of OKSVA.

The firing of two MANPADS missiles at a Mi-8MT helicopter on the first day of national reconciliation on January 16, 1987, on a passenger flight from Kabul to Jalalabad, looked like a mockery. Among the passengers on board the helicopter was the chief of staff of the 177 Special Forces (Ghazni), Major Sergei Kutsov, currently the head of the Intelligence Directorate of the Internal Troops of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, lieutenant general. Without losing his cool, the special forces officer knocked out the flames and helped the other passengers leave the burning side. Only one passenger was unable to use the parachute because she was wearing a skirt and did not wear it...

The one-sided “national reconciliation” was immediately taken advantage of by the armed Afghan opposition, which at that moment, according to American analysts, was “on the brink of disaster.” It was the difficult situation of the rebels that was the main reason for the supply of Stinger MANPADS to them. Beginning in 1986, the airmobile operations of the Soviet special forces, whose units were assigned helicopters, so limited the rebels' ability to supply weapons and ammunition to the interior of Afghanistan that the armed opposition began to create special combat groups to fight our intelligence agencies. But, even well trained and armed, they could not significantly influence the combat activities of the special forces. The likelihood of their detection by reconnaissance groups was extremely low, but if this happened, then the clash was fierce. Unfortunately, there is no data on the actions of special groups of rebels against Soviet special forces in Afghanistan, but several episodes of military clashes based on the same pattern of enemy actions can be attributed specifically to “anti-special forces” groups.

The Soviet special forces, which became a barrier to the movement of the “caravans of terror,” were based in the provinces of Afghanistan bordering Pakistan and Iran, but what could the special forces do, whose reconnaissance groups and detachments could block no more than one kilometer of the caravan route, or rather, the direction. The special forces perceived the “Gorbachev reconciliation” as a stab in the back, limiting their actions in the “reconciliation zones” and in the immediate vicinity of the border, when conducting raids on villages where the rebels were based and their caravans stopped for the day. But still, due to the active actions of the Soviet special forces, by the end of the winter of 1987, the Mujahideen experienced significant difficulties with food and fodder at the “overpopulated” transshipment bases. Although what awaited them in Afghanistan was not hunger, but death on mined paths and in special forces ambushes. In 1987 alone, reconnaissance groups and special forces intercepted 332 caravans with weapons and ammunition, capturing and destroying more than 290 units heavy weapons(recoilless rifles, mortars, heavy machine guns), 80 MANPADS (mainly Hunyin-5 and SA-7), 30 PC launchers, more than 15 thousand anti-tank and anti-personnel mines and about 8 million ammunition small arms. Acting on the communications of the rebels, the special forces forced the armed opposition to accumulate most of the military-technical cargo at transshipment bases in the border areas of Afghanistan, difficult for Soviet and Afghan troops. Taking advantage of this, the aircraft of the Limited Contingent and the Afghan Air Force began systematically bombing them.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the temporary respite kindly provided to the Afghan opposition by Gorbachev and Shevardnadze (then USSR Foreign Minister), the rebels began to intensively increase firepower their formations. It was during this period that the saturation of combat detachments and armed opposition groups with 107-mm rocket systems, recoilless rifles and mortars was observed. Not only the Stinger, but also the English Blowpipe MANPADS, the Swiss 20-mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft artillery mounts and the Spanish 120-mm mortars are beginning to enter their arsenal. An analysis of the situation in Afghanistan in 1987 indicated that the armed opposition was preparing for decisive actions, for which the Soviet “perestroika”ists, who set a course for the Soviet Union to surrender its international positions, did not have the will.

He was on fire in a helicopter hit by a Stinger missile. Head of the RUVV of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General S. Kutsov

Special forces on caravan routes

Limited in carrying out raids and reconnaissance and search operations (raids), Soviet special forces in Afghanistan intensified ambush operations. The rebels paid special attention to ensuring the safety of the caravans, and the scouts had to show great ingenuity when leading to the ambush area, secrecy and restraint in anticipation of the enemy, and in battle - steadfastness and courage. In most combat episodes, the enemy significantly outnumbered the special forces reconnaissance group. In Afghanistan, the effectiveness of special forces actions during ambush operations was 1: 5-6 (reconnaissance officers managed to engage the enemy in one case out of 5-6). According to data published later in the West, the armed opposition managed to deliver 80-90% of the cargo transported by pack caravans and vehicles to its destination. In special forces areas of responsibility, this figure was significantly lower. Subsequent episodes of the capture of the Stinger MANPADS by Soviet special forces occurred precisely during the actions of reconnaissance officers on caravan routes.

On the night of July 16-17, 1987, as a result of an ambush by the reconnaissance group 668 ooSpN (15 arr. SpN) of Lieutenant German Pokhvoshchev, a pack caravan of rebels in the province of Logar was scattered by fire. By the morning, the ambush area was blocked by an armored group of a detachment led by Lieutenant Sergei Klimenko. Fleeing, the rebels threw their loads off their horses and disappeared into the night. As a result of an inspection of the area, two Stinger and two Blowpipe MANPADS were discovered and captured, as well as about a ton of other weapons and ammunition. The British carefully concealed the fact of supplying MANPADS to Afghan illegal armed groups. Now the Soviet government has the opportunity to convict them of supplying anti-aircraft missiles to the Afghan armed opposition. However, what was the point in that when more than 90% of the weapons to the Afghan “Mujahideen” were supplied by China, and the Soviet press bashfully kept silent about this fact, “branding shame” on the West. You can guess why - in Afghanistan, our soldiers were killed and maimed by Soviet weapons marked “Made in China”, developed by domestic designers in the 50-50s, the production technology of which was transferred by the Soviet Union to the “great neighbor”.

Landing of the Special Forces RG into a helicopter

Reconnaissance group of Lieutenant V. Matyushin (in the top row, second from left)

Now it was the rebels’ turn, and they were in no debt to the Soviet troops. In November 1987, two anti-aircraft missiles shot down a Mi-8MT helicopter of 355 obvp, on board which were scouts from 334 ooSpN (15 obrSpN). At 05:55, a pair of Mi-8MTs, under the cover of a pair of Mi-24s, took off from the Asadabad site and went to outpost No. 2 (Lahorsar, level 1864) with a gentle climb. At 06:05, at an altitude of 100 m from the ground, the Mi-8MT transport helicopter was hit by two Stinger MANPADS missiles, after which it caught fire and began to lose altitude. Flight technician Captain A. Gurtov and six passengers were killed in the crashed helicopter. The crew commander left the car in the air, but he did not have enough altitude to open the parachute. Only the pilot-navigator managed to escape, landing with a partially opened parachute canopy on a steep slope of the ridge. Among the dead was the commander of the special forces group, Senior Lieutenant Vadim Matyushin. On this day, the rebels were preparing a massive shelling of the Asadabad garrison, covering the positions of 107-mm jet systems volley fire and mortars by crews of MANPADS anti-aircraft gunners. In the winter of 1987-1988. The rebels practically gained air superiority in the vicinity of Asadabad with portable anti-aircraft systems. Before this, the commander of the 334 Special Forces, Major Grigory Bykov, did not allow them to do this, but his replacements did not show strong will and determination... Front-line aviation still attacked rebel positions in the vicinity of Asadabad, but did not act effectively from extreme heights. Helicopters were forced to transport personnel and cargo only at night, and during the day they made only urgent ambulance flights at extremely low altitudes along the Kunar River.

Patrolling the inspection area of ​​the Spetsnaz RG by helicopters

However, application restrictions army aviation Scouts from other special forces units also felt it. The area of ​​their airmobile operations was significantly limited by the safety of army aviation flights. In the current situation, when the authorities demanded “results”, and the capabilities of the intelligence agencies were limited by the directives and instructions of the same authorities, the command of the 154th special forces found a way out of the seemingly deadlock situation. The detachment, thanks to the initiative of its commander, Major Vladimir Vorobyov, and the head of the detachment’s engineering service, Major Vladimir Gorenitsa, began to use complex mining of caravan routes. In fact, reconnaissance officers of the 154th special forces created a reconnaissance and fire complex (ROC) in Afghanistan back in 1987, the creation of which in modern Russian army there is only talk. The main elements of the system of combating rebel caravans, created by the special forces of the “Jalalabad Battalion” on the caravan route Parachnar-Shahidan-Panjshir, were:

Sensors and repeaters of the "Realiya" reconnaissance and signaling equipment (RSA) installed at the borders (seismic, acoustic and radio wave sensors), from which information was received about the composition of the caravans and the presence of ammunition and weapons in them (metal detectors);

Mining lines with radio-controlled minefields and non-contact explosive devices NVU-P “Ohota” (seismic target movement sensors);

Areas where special forces reconnaissance agencies conduct ambushes, adjacent to mining and SAR installation lines. This ensured complete closure of the caravan route, the smallest width of which in the area of ​​crossings across the Kabul River was 2-3 km;

Barrage lines and areas of concentrated artillery fire of outposts guarding the Kabul-Jalalabad highway (122-mm self-propelled howitzers 2S1 "Gvozdika", in the positions of which were the operators of the Realiya SAR, reading information from the receiving devices).

Area patrol routes accessible to helicopters with special forces inspection teams on board.

The commander of the inspection unit of the Special Forces, Lieutenant S. Lafazan (in the center), who captured the Stinger MANPADS on 02/16/1988.

A combat-ready Stinger MANPADS, captured by reconnaissance officers of the 154th Special Forces in February 1988.

Such a troublesome “management” required constant monitoring and regulation, but the results showed very quickly. The rebels more and more often fell into a trap cleverly arranged by the special forces. Even having their own observers and informants from among the local population in the mountains and nearby villages, probing every stone and path, they were faced with the constant “presence” of special forces, suffering losses in controlled minefields, from artillery fire and ambushes. Inspection teams in helicopters completed the destruction of scattered pack animals and collected the “result” from the caravans ground up by mines and shells. On February 16, 1988, a special-purpose inspection reconnaissance group of the 154 Special Forces Special Forces, Lieutenant Sergei Lafzan, discovered 6 km northwest of the village of Shakhidan a group of pack animals destroyed by MON-50 mines of the NVU-P “Hunting” set. During the inspection, intelligence officers seized two boxes with Stinger MANPADS. The peculiarity of NVU-P is that this electronic device identifies the movement of people by ground vibrations and issues a command to sequentially detonate five fragmentation mines OZM-72, MON-50, MON-90 or others.

A few days later, in the same area, scouts from the inspection group of the Jalalabad special forces detachment again captured two Stinger MANPADS. This episode ended the epic of the special forces hunt for the Stinger in Afghanistan. All four cases of its capture by Soviet troops were the work of special forces units and units operationally subordinate to the Main Intelligence Directorate General Staff USSR Armed Forces.

Since 1988, the withdrawal of a limited contingent of Soviet troops from Afghanistan began with... the most combat-ready units that terrified the rebels throughout the “Afghan war” - individual special forces units. For some reason (?) it was the special forces that turned out to be the “weak link” for the Kremlin democrats in Afghanistan... Strange, isn’t it? Having exposed the external borders of Afghanistan, at least somehow covered by Soviet special forces, the short-sighted military-political leadership of the USSR allowed the rebels to increase the flow of military assistance from outside and handed Afghanistan over to them. In February 1989, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from this country was completed, but Najibullah’s government remained in power until 1992. Since this period, the chaos of the civil war reigned in the country, and the Stingers provided by the Americans began to spread among terrorist organizations around the world.

It is unlikely that the Stingers themselves played a decisive role in forcing the Soviet Union to withdraw from Afghanistan, as is sometimes imagined in the West. Its reasons lie in the political miscalculations of the last leaders of the Soviet era. However, a trend towards an increase in the loss of aircraft as a result of it being hit by MANPADS missiles in Afghanistan after 1986 could be traced, despite the significantly reduced intensity of flights. But one cannot attribute the merit for this only to the “Stinger”. In addition to the same Stingers, the rebels continued to receive other MANPADS in huge quantities.

The result of the Soviet special forces' hunt for the American Stinger was eight combat-ready anti-aircraft systems, for which none of the special forces received the promised Golden Star of the Hero. The highest state award was awarded to Senior Lieutenant German Pokhvoshchev (668 ooSpN), awarded the Order of Lenin, and only for the fact that he captured the only two Blowpipe MANPADS. An attempt by a number of public veteran organizations to achieve the awarding of the title of Hero of Russia to reserve lieutenant colonel Vladimir Kovtun and posthumously to lieutenant colonel Evgeny Sergeev (died in 2008) runs into a wall of indifference in the offices of the Ministry of Defense. It’s a strange position, given that currently, of the seven special forces soldiers awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for Afghanistan, no one is left alive (five people were awarded it posthumously). Meanwhile, the first samples of Stinger MANPADS and their technical documentation allowed domestic aviators to find effective methods of countering them, which saved the lives of hundreds of pilots and passengers of aircraft. It is possible that some technical solutions were used by our designers when creating domestic second- and third-generation MANPADS, which are superior to the Stinger in some combat characteristics.

MANPADS "Stinger" (above) and "Hunyin" (below) are the main anti-aircraft systems of the Afghan Mujahideen in the late 80s.