"Modified" Igla-1 MANPADS found in Iraq

Post by **Vympel** » 2004-04-11 11:06am

I thought this was relevant in the context of the AH-64 that was just shot down near Baghdad (crew status "unknown").

JANE'S DEFENCE WEEKLY - MARCH 24, 2004

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Modified Igla-1 found in Iraq
JIM O'HALLORAN JDW Special Correspondent
London
Additional reporting by Andrew Koch JDW Bureau Chief
Washington, DC and
Katie White JDW Special Correspondent
London

US-led coalition forces in Iraq have discovered a modified version of the Russian-designed Igla-1 man-portable air-defence system (MANPADS) near Baghdad, raising questions of whether the weapon is a new and serious threat to aircraft flying over the country.

Some 16 US helicopters have been downed over Iraq since the combat phase of Operation 'Iraqi Freedom' was declared over on 1 May 2003. Of these, 11 are attributed to hostile fire, including four believed shot by rocket-propelled grenades. Additionally, a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster strategic transport aircraft and a DHL Airbus A300 civilian cargo aircraft were struck by MANPADS respectively taking off and landing at Baghdad.

While not specifically commenting on the upgraded Igla-1, a number of senior US Army officials have recently spoken publicly about the growing threat faced by helicopters and other aircraft flying over Iraq. Announcing the termination of the RAH-66 Comanche attack helicopter programme on 23 February, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Lt Gen Richard Cody noted: "We are seeing a proliferation of MANPADS, IR [infra-red] missile systems, [and] more sophisticated air-defence systems [in Iraq]".

US defence officials say they are investigating the newly identified system but are yet to reach any conclusions about whether it contains significant new capabilities or presents problems for US air-defence countermeasures.

The modified Igla-1 has a red front end (RFE) missile seeker, the first time such a coating has been seen on an IR-guided missile, defence sources told JDW. It is not known if the red coating boosts the missile's performance, although there is speculation that this may improve its ability to discriminate against background clutter. It would also appear that the missile's front-end, which houses the electronics package and detection circuits, is also slightly longer with a small increase in diameter size.

Markings so far recovered from the RFE missile are in Cyrillic, and would therefore suggest Russian or former Eastern Bloc involvement in developing the new and probably improved seeker.

Further, it is understood that before 'Iraqi Freedom', the Al-Fatah Factory of the Al-Karama State Company in Baghdad may have been involved in this development. This factory was visited by the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission on 11 December 2002, during which time it was mainly involved with making mechanical parts for the guidance and control system of the Al-Samoud short-range ballistic missile.

It was also reported at that time to be manufacturing components for the Saddam Arrow, a hitherto unknown shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile.

The Igla-1 and its predecessors, the Strela-2/-2M and Strela-3 (SA-7a/b and SA-14), are known to be in Iraq.

The Igla-1 export version is a second-generation system that incorporates the best of the export Strela-3 and from the new Igla family of missiles. The Igla-1 uses the 9E418 seeker, which was first identified on the export Strela-3. The Igla-1 also had a new improved motor, electronics package and warhead. The Russian system uses a totally different Indium Antimony (InSb) seeker 9K410. As with the Strela-3, the front end of the missile dome is a creamy off-white opaque glass that is used as a filtration device.

The Strela-2/-2M is a first-generation IR SAM system (9K32/9K32M) designed in the late 1950s, which went through research and development in the early 1960s and was first deployed with the Soviet Army in the mid- to late-1960s. The missile (9M32/9M32M) has a very limited engagement capability with a tail chase aspect only. The missile seeker (9E46/9E46M) was developed at the Leningrad (now St Petersburg) Optical Mechanical Plant, employs a PbS uncooled lead sulphide IR detector that operates in the 0.2-1.5µm-band with an Instantaneous Field of View (IFoV) of 1.9º. This type of seeker can be easily recognised by the clear-glass front end that protects the IR detection circuits.

The Strela-3 (9K34-1 export version) was an interim system developed between 1968 and 1972. The then Soviet forces version was first operationally deployed in 1974 and offered for export shortly thereafter. The export system basically upgraded the Strela-2/-2M with a cooled seeker (9E418), giving the missile a capability, albeit limited, for both front and rear aspect. The missile (9M36-1) employs the same seeker (9E418) that was eventually used in the export variant of the Igla-1. The missile seeker dome, unlike its predecessor has a creamy off-white opaque glass front end that is used as the filtration device. The 9E418 seeker IFoV is 40º.

Montcalm · Post by **Montcalm** » 2004-04-11 11:18am

Are they getting these on the black market,or does the Russian government know something they're not telling the world

Post by **Vympel** » 2004-04-11 11:26am

If they were going to clandestinely sell MANPADS to the Iraqis, they'd be stock standard Igla-1- in all liklihood, this is an indigenous Iraqi modification- they modified Kub (SA-6) missiles with IR seekers as well, apparently. Or, they could be smuggled in from neighboring countries- the Igla-1 has proliferated in large numbers.

Update: the two Apache crew are dead.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2004-04-11 12:03pm

Vympel wrote: Update: the two Apache crew are dead.

Aw fuck.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2004-04-11 12:53pm

Wonder if, were the crew in the '66, if they would have been able to avoid being shot down, or even survivsed the crash...

HEY! Remember that james bond flick where he was strapped into a helo and he escaped via an ejection system? how, uh, viable would that be...looked like it had explosize charges on the jesus bolts of the rotor, and after it blew the seat ejected. of course, upon expulsion of the main rotor, the tail would have to nearly immediately stop or spin the fucking thing out of control...

Oh, anyway...These guys sacrifice...think it will mean reinstatement of the RAH-66? I mean, the whole reason for cancellation owas that we are no longer facing cold-war style threat. This incident really speaks to the need for having a stealthy attack helo which would be hard for seeking missiles to aquire.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-04-11 05:50pm

I believe the Ka-50 has such a system.

2000AD · Post by **2000AD** » 2004-04-11 05:53pm

The modified Igla-1 has a red front end (RFE) missile seeker, the first time such a coating has been seen on an IR-guided missile, defence sources told JDW. It is not known if the red coating boosts the missile's performance, although there is speculation that this may improve its ability to discriminate against background clutter. It would also appear that the missile's front-end, which houses the electronics package and detection circuits, is also slightly longer with a small increase in diameter size.

Sorry but that's fuuny to me. Is it possible that a red paint job increases performance?

Seems to me like the Iraqis are nicking WH40k space Orks philosphy in that "red 'uns go faster"

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-04-11 06:03pm

Of course. Since IR seekers depend on a certain wavelength for guidence, any change in what could get through the seeker head could change performance.

Grand Admiral Thrawn · Post by **Grand Admiral Thrawn** » 2004-04-11 06:35pm

Howedar wrote:I believe the Ka-50 has such a system.

Indeed, which makes it quite survivable (along with the no tail rotar)

I'm surprised Iraq has any MANPADS left, especially Iglas. I would have thought they'd have fired them all in a year.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-04-11 06:40pm

Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:I'm surprised Iraq has any MANPADS left, especially Iglas. I would have thought they'd have fired them all in a year.

They might be bringing them in from outside. Border security is not as tight as the Americans would like.

Grand Admiral Thrawn · Post by **Grand Admiral Thrawn** » 2004-04-11 06:53pm

Darth Wong wrote: They might be bringing them in from outside. Border security is not as tight as the Americans would like.

Which means more could be showing up in the near future. Not exactly the best news for American troops concidering the recent events.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-04-11 07:48pm

Chardok wrote:Wonder if, were the crew in the '66, if they would have been able to avoid being shot down, or even survivsed the crash...

The reduced IR signature might have let them avoid the hit, but while well protected the RAH-66 doesn't have quite the same level of armor protection as the Apache and both aircraft have the same crash survivability. However the RAH-66 is mainly a replacement for the OH-58 and would have removed only a few old Apaches from service, so it ought to be compared to that aircraft.

HEY! Remember that james bond flick where he was strapped into a helo and he escaped via an ejection system? how, uh, viable would that be...looked like it had explosize charges on the jesus bolts of the rotor, and after it blew the seat ejected. of course, upon expulsion of the main rotor, the tail would have to nearly immediately stop or spin the fucking thing out of control...

A couple helicopters have ejection seats. The US Army evaluated them and didn't like it. If the crew can keep the aircraft upright after its hit, then they also could probably autorotate to a landing anyway, which is generally going to be preferable to ejection. If the aircraft is rolling on its side, then at the low levels that attack helo's fly ejection becomes suicide.

Oh, anyway...These guys sacrifice...think it will mean reinstatement of the RAH-66? I mean, the whole reason for cancellation owas that we are no longer facing cold-war style threat. This incident really speaks to the need for having a stealthy attack helo which would be hard for seeking missiles to aquire.

The infrared stealth advantage of the RAH-66 isn't very great over that of the OH-58 or Apache, and while its has a fraction of the radar signature measured in thousandths radar directed air defenses are the sort of thing third world guerrillas don't field.

More importantly, while the Comanche is very heavily armed for its weight, it cannot carry rockets internally as far as I can tell, and externally it can haul only two pods. Its gun is also weaker and shorter ranged. Those two things are very bad when your mission is shooting up lots of infantry and soft targets, as is the case in Iraq and Afghanistan. These wars have shown the need for a heavy attack helicopter, not a very expensive stealthy scout. I'm not real happy with the situation; in the future I think we will wish we had the Comanche.

But it's dead and the current wars can't justify it coming back, they argue for an even heavier non-stealth (all modern attack helo's already have pretty extensive infrared signature suppression so I'm not counting that) aircraft. Something that can haul hundreds of rockets, gun pods, about a thousand flares for countermeasures and many other funs things while having the armor to laugh at 23mm API shells.

Now what did I do with that Mi-26....

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2004-04-11 08:14pm

We could use a mile long Zepplin with 16 inch battle ship guns...

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2004-04-11 08:14pm

*as a heavy attack gunship...