9K34 Strela-3

The 9K34 Strela-3, called SA-14 Gremlin by NATO, is a Soviet man-portable air defense system developed to answer the poor performance of the earlier 9K32 Strela-2. Because the missile was largely based on the Strela-2, development moved quickly and the Soviet Army accepted it into service in January 1974. Its main advance was a new infrared seeker using frequency-modulated conical scanning, which resists jamming and flares better than the older spin-scan seekers, together with a nitrogen-cooled detector that lets it track cooler targets at greater range and, in favourable conditions, engage jets head-on. The extra weight slightly reduced kinematic performance, but effectiveness against slow, low-flying targets improved greatly. It was exported to more than thirty countries, used in conflicts from Abkhazia to the Second Congo War and Iraq, and followed by the Igla.