MANPADS

MANPADS

Subject: Defence and Security

Section: Msc

Context: The US is sending Ukraine a surface-to-air missile, also known as MANPADS, which will help Ukraine to fight Russiafrom dominating the air space.

Concept:

• MANPADS are “short-range surface-to-air missiles used to intercept fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft in flight.”
• They are deployed for air defence.
• They are designed to be fired while mounted on a person’s shoulder or a tripod.
• The first MANPADS developed by the US and Soviet Union were called the ‘Redeye’ and ‘Strela’ systems respectively in the 1960s.
• An updated version, the ‘Stinger’, was released in 1970s by the US. They can be used to shoot down aircraft and drones. They were provided to Mujahideen in Afghanistan to fight Soviet aircraft in the 1980s.
• Currently, around 20 countries, including the US, UK, Russia, Sweden, North Korea, Poland, and others, produce MANPADS.
• Three general types of MANPADS: command line of sight, laser guided, and infra-red seekers.

1. Command line-of-sight MANPADS are guided to their targets through the use of a remote control.
2. Laser-guided or laser beam rider MANPADS follow a laser projected onto the target.
3. The most common MANPADS, however, are infrared seekers that acquire their target by detecting the heat of an aircraft’s engine. E.g., Stingers – made by the US – have an infrared seeker which detects the target through its radiation emissions. Another example of such missiles is the Russian Igla-S.

• They have very long shelf life e., it can remain functional for up to 20 years.
• Concerns include illicit proliferation which land up in the hands of terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda, unaccounted stockpile as in Iraq after Saddam Hussein’s fall and attacks on civilians thereby claiming thousands of lives.