Missile 9K34 Strela-3 (SA-14 Gremlin)

The 9K34 Strela-3 (NATO reporting name SA-14 Gremlin) is a man-portable air defense system developed in the Soviet Union. It was designed to address performance deficiencies in the earlier 9K32 Strela-2 system. The 9K34 entered service with the Soviet Army in January 1974 and was later succeeded by the Igla system.

The 9M36 missile utilizes an infrared homing seeker head operating on a frequency modulation (con-scan) principle, which provides resistance to jamming and decoy flares. The seeker employs a lead sulfide detector element cooled by a pressurized nitrogen bottle attached to the launcher. This cooling extends the sensitivity range to longer wavelengths, enabling the tracking of cooler targets and allowing for forward-hemisphere engagement of jet aircraft. The seeker tracking rate allows for the engagement of fast and maneuvering targets. The missile is equipped with a directed-energy blast fragmentation warhead containing HMX. The warhead assembly includes a secondary charge to ignite residual rocket propellant. A naval version of the system is designated as the SA-N-8.

The system is widely deployed, having been exported to over 30 countries. National operators include Russia, Ukraine, Iran, North Korea, and Syria. It is also utilized by non-state actors, including Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

Combat use has been recorded in numerous conflicts. In the War in Abkhazia, the system downed an Mi-8 helicopter and a Su-25. During 1994 operations in Bosnia, a British Sea Harrier was shot down. In the Second Congo War, an Il-76 was destroyed by the missile. Northern Alliance forces in Afghanistan used the system to down MiG-21 and Su-22 aircraft in 2000. In Iraq, a 9K34 struck an Airbus A300 in 2003 and shot down a British Westland Lynx helicopter in 2006. During the Angolan Civil War, UNITA forces captured the system from government and Cuban forces.

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