085 INFANTRY ANTI-AIRCRAFT MISSILES: Man-Portable Air Defense Systems

1-975085

Charts the technological evolution of the man-portable air defense system (MANPADS) that began in the mid-1950s. Explores their combat usage and the lessons from these encounters and surveys the various methods developed as countermeasures to the MANPADS threat.

The first generation of MANPADS, such as the US Army's Redeye and the Soviet Strela-2 (SA-7 Grail), saw combat use in the Vietnam War in 1972 and the Yom Kippur War of 1973. The next generation of infrared-guided MANPADS, such as the US Stinger and Soviet Igla, came to prominence following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Since the 1970s, MANPADS have been used in innumerable wars, border conflicts, civil wars, and insurrections.