SA-13 (Gopher) / 9K35 Strela-10

History

The 9K35 "Strela-10" was developed by Soviet engineers to replace the 9K31 Strela-1 series (SA-9 "Gaskin") of the mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems that entered service in the 1960s for the Red Army during the Cold War. It was a budget alternative to the more tech-intensive projects of the time and therefore had limitations in terms of overall participation capacity. It lacks all-weather capability, although its more direct operator involvement (it is optically aimed and guided) makes hitting air targets less susceptible to jamming and evasive maneuvers. In 1969, the KB Tochmash Precision Engineering Design Bureau began development work and the 9K35 entered service in 1979.

In NATO, the car is known as the SA-13 "Gopher". It is still in use today (2014) and has been adopted by the militaries of Afghanistan, Angola, Ukraine and Vietnam. The former operators are Czechoslovakia (dissolution), Poland, Slovakia, USSR and Yugoslavia (dissolution).

Modern versions of the Russian military use a new type of missile.

The 13.55 ton SA-13 is based on the hull and chassis of the existing MT-LB multipurpose armoured tracked carrier, thus retaining the same YaMZ-238V diesel engine with 240 hp and a performance specification of 37 per hour miles of highway speed and a range of 310 miles. The torsion bar suspension provides the necessary off-road capability, and the hull is amphibious like the original MT-LB and traverses water at 3 miles per hour.

Its three crew members - commander, driver and gunner - and the armor protection level is only for small arms fire and is 7mm thick. The main weapon is the 9M333 quadruple rocket launcher, which is located on a trainable mount on the fuselage.

The transmitters are grouped side-by-side into two transmitter pairs separated by a central radar array. Mounting hardware has full aileron and elevator controls. The launcher can also fire older Streal-1 series missiles.

The original missile was the 9M31M in 1971, which used impact and proximity fuzes. It was followed by 1976's 9M37 and its approach and impact fuze. Then came the 9M37M in 1981 and the 9M333 in 1989 - the latter introduced an eight-beam laser proximity and impact fuze.

As the missile develops, the maximum range increases gradually, while the minimum intercept height increases steadily.

Over the decades, the Strela-10 system has been continuously improved to increase its usefulness on the battlefield. This gave birth to the Strela-10M, Strela, 10M2 and Strela-10M3 brands.

Its combat service ranged from the Angola War (1975-2002) and Operation Desert Storm (1991) to the Kosovo War (1998-1999), though with mixed results.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

Armor

4 x 9m37 surface-to-air missiles; supports SA-7 "Grail" and SA-14 "Gremlin" missiles.

Changes