What are and how do the British MANPADS used by Ukraine to shoot down Russian planes and helicopters work

The large defence arsenal sent by the West has been vital to the strong resistance that Ukrainian forces are offering to the attack of Russian troops. In this regard, man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) are playing a key role in the downing of Russian planes and helicopters. After a month and a half of war, reports indicate that most of the confirmed Russian aircraft losses were killed by these missiles.

The defensive supply package received by Kiev includes the lightweight high-speed StarStreak system, developed by the United Kingdom and considered the fastest short-range surface-to-air missile in the world.

Since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February, Boris Johnson's government has sent at least 10,000 missiles to Ukrainian forces, including StarStreak, which have severely hampered Russian air operations.

MANPADS are short-range portable air defense systems, which use surface-to-air missiles guided with infrared location technology to detect and attack targets. Being effective at an altitude of between 3,000 and 4,800 meters, they pose a great threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters.

Several NATO allies sent such an air defense system to Ukraine. The United States did it through its Stinger missiles, and the United Kingdom with the StarStreak.

StarStreak works very differently than almost all other types of MANPADS. Each missile contains three 900-gram tungsten alloy darts that are released once the projectile's two rocket engines burn to increase the magnitude of damage. After launch, the missile is directed at the target via a double low-intensity laser beam - which prevents detection - directed by the operator until the moment of impact. This increases the likelihood of hitting the target.

Darts can pierce helicopters' armor and explode upon penetration, causing far more damage than an explosion on the surface.

Compared, for example, to the US Stinger missile, the StarStreak reaches a speed of more than 3,700 km per hour, making it the fastest short-range surface-to-air missile in the world. It travels at 10 miles per second, and can reach the target in 5 or 6 seconds, giving the plane or helicopter very little time to avoid being hit.

Its speed makes it unlikely that enemy planes will have enough time to react once the missile is launched. In addition, they cannot be interfered with by infrared or radar/radio countermeasures, or eliminated by anti-radar missiles.

The Thales group, the manufacturer of this weapon, says it is “optimized to provide defense against air threats, including fixed-wing ground attack aircraft and late unmasking attack helicopters.”

They can be moved by one person or mounted on an armored vehicle, which makes it very flexible and adaptable to different situations on the battlefield.

Although MANPADS tend to shoot down more helicopters because of their low flight, since the beginning of the invasion it has been surprising how many Russian planes have been destroyed. This is because both Russia and Ukraine lack large inventories of precision weapons, so pilots are forced to fly low to accurately drop bombs and unguided rockets.

Specialists also believe that it is possible for pilots on both sides to fly at low altitude to detect targets hidden by cloud cover, or by the perception that long-range and high-altitude surface-to-air missile systems pose an even greater threat than low-altitude defenses.

A video released on social media shows a helicopter hit by a missile, apparently in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine. The British newspaper The Times reported that a source from the Ministry of Defense “believed that the video showed StarStreak in action in Ukraine”.

The newspaper added that top sources in the defense industry also believe that StarStreak was the weapon used in that attack.

NATO countries, including the United States, have delivered surface-to-air missiles to Ukrainian forces to help them counter the Russian offensive. Although the exact figure has not been disclosed, many of them have been the North American manufactured Stinger MANPADS.

Like the StarStreak, the Stingers, which were also used in Afghanistan, can be transported and handled by one person. The rocket fired by this system can reach a maximum speed of 3,100 km per hour, slightly slower than the British one. Its range, up to 4.8 km, is also shorter than that of the StarStreak, which, according to Thales, can hit targets more than 7 km away.

Ukraine started the war using the Soviet-era light missiles of the SA-7 Grail and SA-14 Gremlin types (9K32 Strela-2 and 9K34 Strela-3 respectively, according to Russian designation). However, these models are technologically outdated and, in some cases, directly expired. The SA-7s, for example, were handed over to Ukrainians by the Germans and have been stored at least since the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Ukrainian forces also have in their arsenal the Grom and Piorun missiles, of Polish origin, which were delivered shortly before the start of the Russian invasion. These were designed to replace the SA-7, SA-9 and SA-14.

Russia acknowledged on Thursday that it suffered “significant casualties” among its military personnel deployed in Ukraine and assured that it will continue to “defend its interests” after being suspended from the United Nations Human Rights Council, in statements by the Kremlin spokesman. “We have significant casualties among the troops and it is a great tragedy for us,” said Dmitri Peskov in an interview with the British private channel Sky News, without specifying his number.

At the end of March, Vladimir Putin's army acknowledged that it had lost 1,351 soldiers and that 3,825 others were injured since the start of its offensive in Ukraine on 24 February.

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