9K35 Strela-10

Associated systems and vehicles

The 9K35 is a SAM system with electro-optical guidance. It has the capability to use radars for target acquisition and range. Some vehicles have a pintle-mounted PKT 7.62 mm machine gun in front of the forward hatch for close-in protection. Other vehicles have been seen with additional support railings for the system on the rear deck. The following is a list of associated equipment:

• 9A34M2, 9A34M3-K: launcher vehicle with 9S86 (NATO designation "SNAP SHOT") range only radar located between the two pairs of missile canisters on the transporter erector launcher and radar (TELAR) (maximum radar range is 450 to 10,000 m).
• 9A35M2, 9A35M3-K: launcher vehicle with 9S16 (NATO designation "Flat Box-B") passive radar detection system that gives a 360° azimuth and minimum 40° elevation coverage
• 9F624 and 9F624M training simulator
• 9S482M7 Control Post
• 9U111: a 1,950 kg trailer-mounted 12 kW generator unit, designed to feed power to up to four 9A35M2, 9A35M3-K or 9A34M2, 9A34M3-K launcher vehicles at a distance of up to 30 m by cable while conducting maintenance or training operations.
• 9V839M: system checkout vehicle
• 9V915M, 9V915M-1: technical maintenance vehicle
• MT-LBU with 9S80 (NATO designation "DOG EAR") F/G-band target acquisition radar (maximum range 80 km (50 miles))
• Ranzhir-M 9S737М (GRAU designation 9S737): it is a mobile command center for a mixed grouping of air defense forces, such as the Tor, Tunguska, Strela-10, and Igla.^[5]

Missiles

The Strela-10 system was originally designed to use the 9M37 missile as its primary weapon, but its launch system was designed to be also backwards compatible with the 9M31M missile of the earlier 9K31 Strela-1.

Each 9M37 missile is 2,200 mm (7.2 ft) long, weighs 40 kg (88 pounds) and carries a 3.5 kg (7–15 pound) warhead. The maximum speed of the missile is near Mach 2, engagement range is from 800 to 5000 m (0.3–3 miles) and engagement altitude is between 10 and 3500 m (33-11,500 ft). (The ranges define the zone of target intercept, minimum and maximum launch distances are longer for approaching and shorter for receding targets, depending on the target's speed, altitude and flight direction.)

Four missiles are mounted on the turret in boxes, ready to launch, and eight more are carried inside the vehicle as reloads. Reloading takes around 3 minutes.

The 9M37 was quickly replaced with a slightly improved 9M37M (the main improvement was a more efficient autopilot system for missile flight path control), and later the significantly upgraded 9M333, which introduced the following:^[2]

• heavier warhead of improved expanding-rod design and larger HE content
• new proximity fuzing with 8-ray laser to improve probability of fuzing on near misses of very small targets, such as cruise missiles or UAVs
• triple-channel guidance system for more robust countermeasure rejection
• improved engine to provide similar performance despite the slight increase in missile length and weight.

All missiles—9M31M, 9M37, 9M37M and 9M333—are equipped with optical homing heads utilizing reticle-based photocontrast and/or infrared homing. 9M333 is said to have particularly good countermeasure resistance due to its triple-channel homing head, while the 9M37/9M37M's photocontrast channel is described as back-up method to the IR channel.^[2]

All main variants—Strela-10SV, Strela-10M, Strela-10M2 and Strela-10M3—can use all aforementioned missile types.^[6]

The main characteristics of the missiles are listed in the table below, based on source number^[6] unless otherwise noted. For comparison purposes, data for nearest western equivalent, the somewhat larger and heavier MIM-72 Chaparral, is also provided.

As the photocontrast channel provides effective head-on engagement ability, firing range against an approaching target can be considerably longer than the maximum ranges listed above, likewise maximum firing range would be considerably less than the maximum range of target destruction against a receding target. Definition of range and effective ceiling for MIM-72 is unknown and the figures are therefore not directly comparable.

(*) Contract for production of MIM-72G by retrofitting new components was awarded in late 1982, with all missile in US service upgraded by the late 1980s. New production of MIM-72G missiles started in 1990.

Angolan Civil War

On 20 February 1988, 31-year-old Major Edward Richard Every from 1 Squadron SAAF, was killed in action when his Mirage F1AZ (serial 245) was shot down by a Cuban Strela-10 surface-to-air missile in Cuatir (near Menongue) while on an attack mission over Southern Angola.^[11]

Persian Gulf War

Iraq had several operational Strela-10 systems at the beginning of the 1991 international operation to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation, most if not all of which were organized as part of the battlefield air defence systems of the Republican Guard divisions.

During the operation, 27 coalition aircraft are believed to have been hit by Iraqi IR-homing SAMs, resulting in 14 losses. Some of the losses were shot down on the spot, while others, such as OA-10A 77-0197, returned to base only to be lost in a crash landing.^[12] Others landed safely, but were written off as total losses.^{[citation needed]}

At least two losses are believed to have been due to Strela-10s: on 15 February 1991, an A-10A (78-0722) of 353rd TFS/354th TFW was hit by a SAM believed to be a Strela-10, some 100 km north west of Kuwait City, while attacking Republican Guard targets. Pilot Lt Robert Sweet ejected and was made a prisoner of war. While attempting to protect Sweet on the ground, his wingman Steven Phyllis, flying another A-10A (79-0130), was also hit by what is believed to have been a Strela-10. Phyllis was killed in the incident.^[12]

Kosovo War

During the NATO bombing campaign against the FR Yugoslavia, a Strela-10 hit a United States Air Force A-10 on 11 May 1999.^[13]

Syrian Civil War

On 14 April 2018, American, British and French forces launched a barrage of 105 air-to-surface and cruise missiles targeting eight sites in Syria. According to a Russian source, five Strela-10 missiles launched in response, destroying three incoming missiles,^[14] However, the US Department of Defense stated in a daily press briefing that no Allied missiles were shot down.^[15]

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war

The Armenian Air Force employed Strela-10 missile systems during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. During the opening days of the war, several videos released by the Azerbaijani military showed several Armenian 9K33 Osa and Strela-10 vehicles destroyed by Bayraktar TB2 armed drones.^[16][17]

Russo-Ukrainian War

A Strela-10 from the Ukrainian Armed Forces was recorded running over a civilian car in the opening weeks of the war. The driver of the car was uninjured.^[18] A Russian Strela-10M guarding Snake Island was destroyed by a Bayraktar TB2 on 30 April 2022.^[19] A Ukrainian Strela-10M system was reported destroyed by the Russian Air Force near Lisichansk on 17 June 2022.^[20] A Russian source claimed in September 2023 that Russia was using the 9M333 missile in Ukraine.^[21]

Current operators

•  Angola^[24]
•  Armenia: Unknown amount in service in 2023.^[25]: 172
•  Azerbaijan: Unknown amount in service in 2023.^[25]: 173
•  Belarus: Unknown amount in service in 2023.^[25]: 175
•  Cuba: 200 in service in 2023.^[25]: 394
•  Croatia: 3 9K35 Strela-10M3 and 6 9K35 Strela-10CRO in service in 2024.^[26]
•  Czech Republic: 9 in service in 2024.^[26]
•  Georgia: Unknown amount in service in 2023.^[25]: 177
•  India: Unknown amount in service in 2023.^[25]: 249
•  Jordan: 92 in service in 2023^[25]: 334
•  Kazakhstan: Unknown amount in service in 2023.^[25]: 180
•  Kyrgyzstan: Unknown amount in service in 2023.^[25]: 181
•  Laos: In service as of January 2019.^[27]
•  Mongolia
•  North Korea: Manufactured domestically under designation 1976 model year self-propelled missile launcher Type 10.^[28][29]
•  North Macedonia: 8 launchers.^[25]: 113
•  Russia: 350. The 9M333 missile was in production as of 2026.^{[30][31][32][33][34][35]} 100 Strela-10MNs delivered 2012–2020.^[36][37][38]
•  Serbia: 18^[39]
•  Syria: Unknown amount in service in 2023.^[25]: 355
•  Turkmenistan: 13 in service as of 2023^[25]: 200
•  Ukraine: Unknown amount in service in 2023.^[25]: 202
•  Vietnam: 20

Former operators

•  Afghanistan: 16+ launchers prior to the 1992–1996 Afghan Civil War.^[40]
•  Bulgaria: Withdrawn from service.^[40]
•  Czechoslovakia: Passed on successor states.^[40]
•  East Germany: Retired after reunification.
•  Hungary: Withdrawn from service.^[40]
• Iraq: Some destroyed in combat, all remaining units were written off after the Iraq War in 2003.^[40]
• Libya: 60+ launchers in 1992,^[40] unknown number operational prior to the 2011 Libyan civil war.^[41]
•  Poland: 4, probably withdrawn in 2001–2002.^[40]
•  Slovakia: Withdrawn from service.
•  Soviet Union: Passed on to successor states.^[40]
•  Yugoslavia: Passed on to successor states.^[40][42]