Since the Turks shot down the first fighter in the Italian-Turkish War in 1912, air defense equipment has gone through a long process of development for more than a century, and now the mainstream air defense equipment has long since developed from the earliest rifle to an air defense missile with a range of hundreds of kilometers, and the more cutting-edge laser air defense system is also expected to enter service with the first team before the middle of this century.
A wide variety of anti-aircraft missile systems on display.
The most massacrated anti-aircraft missile: the FIM-43 "Redeye" man-portable anti-aircraft missile
US Marines launch Stinger anti-aircraft missiles during exercises.
At present, the world's largest production of anti-aircraft missiles is the first generation of portable anti-aircraft missiles of the US military, the FIM-43 "Red Eye". FIM-43 portable anti-aircraft missile was developed in the 50s of the last century, in 1962 the "Red Eye" portable air defense missile was officially put into production, to 1971 General Dynamics discontinued the production of this type of missile, the total historical output of "Red Eye" reached an astonishing 85,000 pieces, and some armed elements in the Middle East and Africa are still using this portable air defense missile.
The FIM-92 Stinger portable anti-aircraft missile system developed by Raytheon is also produced in large quantities. The "Stinger" portable anti-aircraft missile was put into production in 1978, at first only supplied to the US military, and later this type of anti-aircraft missile was widely exported to nearly 30 countries around the world, and Germany and Turkey have obtained production licenses for the "Stinger". FIM-92 has now been developed to the K type, the total historical production of each model is about 70,000 pieces, after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war Raytheon restarted the "Stinger" production work, but its total historical production should not exceed the "red eye".
Anti-aircraft missile with the longest range: 40N6 missile (S400 anti-aircraft missile system).
So far, the longest-range anti-aircraft missile should be the 400N6E anti-aircraft missile equipped with the Russian S-6 long-range anti-aircraft missile system. The 40N6E is the longest-range model of the series of anti-aircraft missiles used by the S-400 anti-aircraft missile, with a maximum range of 380 km, which is a full 340 km more than the base version of the 9M96E anti-aircraft missile. In terms of maximum launch height, the 40N6E anti-aircraft missile has a launch altitude of 30 kilometers, in other words, it can reach targets within the stratosphere.
The 40N6E anti-aircraft missile is not small in size, although it does not look as thick as the S-200 anti-aircraft missile, but it is by no means the master of the small jasper, counting the storage and transportation of the launch canister, the weight of a single 40N6E anti-aircraft missile has reached 26 tons, of which the mass of the missile body is nearly 2 tons, and the size of its storage and transportation launch canister has reached 78x1 m.
The smallest anti-aircraft missile: the "Hidden Arrow" anti-aircraft missile
"Hidden Arrow" miniature anti-aircraft missile system (data map).
During the 2016 Zhuhai Air Show, the "Hidden Arrow" miniature anti-aircraft missile system on display at the booth of Shanghai Aerospace Science and Technology Group should be the smallest anti-aircraft missile known to be on public display. The "Hidden Arrow" miniature anti-aircraft missile system has a total length of about 70 centimeters and a total weight of about 4 kilograms, of which the launch system weighs 25 kg, which is about the same as a camera tripod.
The "Hidden Arrow" missile itself is even more miniatial, with a body length of about 40 centimeters, a diameter of about 7 centimeters, and a total weight of about 15 kg, of which the warhead charge 05 kg, the warhead type is a high-explosive prefabricated fragmentation. Due to its compact size, the "Pocket Arrow" miniature anti-aircraft missile rocket engine has a very limited charge, and its maximum range is about 2000 meters, which is mainly used to deal with various types of small UAVs.
The largest anti-aircraft missile: the S-200 anti-aircraft missile
A visual demonstration of the dimensions of the S-200 anti-aircraft missile.
Compared with the small and exquisite "Hidden Arrow" miniature anti-aircraft missile, the S-200 "Angara" developed by the former Soviet Union can be called a "giant" among air defense missiles. The S-200 air defense missile system was born to deal with high-altitude strategic bombers and high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft of the United States, and the volume of the missile body is very large, its length is more than 10 meters, and the diameter of the projectile is 086 meters, the total weight of a single missile launch is more than 7 tons, and the size and weight are almost catching up with tactical ballistic missiles. After the S-200 missile lifts off, the four ** solid rocket engines are disengaged, and the missile's own liquid rocket engine is activated, sending the missile to the airspace where the target is located 300 kilometers away or up to 40 kilometers.
The S-200 anti-aircraft missile not only has a long range, but also has a powerful warhead charge of more than 200 kilograms, which can be used for local ground-to-ground tactical missiles after a slight modification. In the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Ukrainian army is suspected of using surface-to-surface tactical missiles modified with S-200 anti-aircraft missiles to strike large Russian ground targets.
The fastest anti-aircraft missile:
Arrow-2 anti-aircraft missile test firing.
To talk about the fastest anti-aircraft missile, the Israeli Strela-2 anti-aircraft missile must be nominated. The "Strela-2" anti-aircraft missile is a long-range anti-aircraft missile developed by Israel with funding from the United States, which is mainly used to deal with air targets such as ballistic missiles. The Strela-2 uses a two-stage solid rocket engine with a maximum flight speed of Mach 9 (2,500 meters and seconds) and can intercept high-speed targets flying at an altitude of 90-150 kilometers, which means that it can intercept outside the atmosphere.
Since its development, the Arrow-2 has conducted 20 interception tests, and of the tests whose results have been announced, 13 have been successful. Since the actual deployment of the "Strela-2" anti-aircraft missile, it has achieved two actual combat results, the first of which was in 2017, when Israel successfully intercepted the Syrian S-200 anti-aircraft missile, because the flight trajectory of the latter is highly similar to that of a ballistic missile. The second was Israel's successful interception of a long-range ballistic missile launched by the Houthis at the end of October last year, and this was also the first actual combat result achieved in a war operation since the deployment of the "Strela-2".