Home > Starstreak missile

Starstreak is manufactured by

1 History

The Stormer variant of Starstreak has been in service with the British army since 1997.

The LML and shoulder-launched versions have been in use since 2000.

In July 2001, Thales received a contract for a Successor Identification Friend or Foe system for Starstreak.

2 Notes

Starstreak is visually guided to the target by an operator. The aiming unit illuminates the target with a laser beam, and sensors in the missile detect this beam and manoeuvre towards it.

The Starstreak missile breaks up into 3 submunitions, called darts, prior to hitting the target. Using submunitions is intended to increase the hit probability. When a dart hits the target, there is a delay before it explodes; it is intended that the dart will embed itself some way into the target, increasing the lethality of the explosion.

Recent testing appears to indicate Starstreak may also be effective against ground based armour, against up to 1000mm of armour. This compares interestingly with the quoted ">600mm" of the new US Javelin system.

3 Inventory

In use with the:

• United Kingdom:
  • ? Alvis Stormer
  • 135 LML systems
  • ? man-portable
• South Africa:
  • 8 LML systems
• Being considered by the USA.

4 Variants

Starstreak can be:

• carried on an Alvis Stormer AFV - an 8 round launcher with room inside the vehicle for 12 extra missiles
• fired from a Lightweight Multiple Launcher (LML) which holds 3 missiles ready for firing and can be used as either a stationary launch unit or mounted on a light vehicle such as a Land Rover or HMMWV.
• man-portable, fired from the operator's shoulder
• fired from a helicopter

5 Combat Performance

In combat, it may have a number of advantages over some other missiles. Because it uses passive sensors (infra-red and human visual), it cannot be suppressed with anti-radar missiles. Its fast speed makes it more likely to be able to intercept an aircraft, and the use of 3 submunitions makes it is more likely that a munition will hit the target. Because it uses human visual tracking, anti-IR flares would be useless against it, though having said that anti-IR flares are less useful against modern imaging IR missiles.

6 Characteristics

• Primary Function: short-range surface-to-air missile
• Contractor: Thales Air Defence Limited, Belfast.

• Length: 1.39 m
• Diameter: 27 cm

• Speed: > Mach 4
• Warhead: 3 penetrating sub-munitions.
• Range: 0.3 - 5 km
• Fuzes: impact
• Guidance system: SACLOS laser beam riding. Optional IR alerting device.

• Date Deployed: 1997
• Users:
  • United Kingdom: man portable, mounted on Stormer AFV.
  • South Africa on Lightweight Multiple Launchers.
  • USA is considering the system for use as an air-to-air missile mounted on AH-64 Apache helicopters.

7 See also

• Similar missiles include: Strela, Igla, Stinger, BlowpipeBlowpipe is a man-portable surface-to-air missile which was in use with the British Army. Poor performance in the Falklands War led to it being withdrawn from UK service, with some mothballed units later being clandestinely sent to equip the Mujahideen fi, JavelinJavelin is a British man-portable surface-to-air missile, used by the British Army. It is currently being replaced in British use by the Starstreak missile. Javelin should not be confused with the American Javelin anti-tank missile. Surface-to-air missile, MistralMistral is a surface-to-air missile manufactured by the European firm MBDA. History Development of the SATCP (Sol Air a Tres Court Portee), the French portable missile later to become the Mistral, began in 1974. Mistral was first deployed in 1988. Variant.
• List of missilesBelow is a list of (links to pages on) missiles sorted alphabetically by country of origin. See also the list of rockets. Types of missiles: Air-to-air missile Anti-ballistic missile Anti-satellite weapon Anti-ship missile Anti-tank guided missile Ballist