Man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS) can be evaded if you keep your distance from the ground threat.
But doing so denies you access to contested airspace, and this may complicate air operations.
Fighter aircraft can stay out of MANPADS reach by flying high and maintaining lateral distance. But helicopters operate by necessity within the engagement envelope of low-level air defence systems.
Air corridors can be sanitised to avoid known MANPADS concentrations. But what if you are in the lead helo tasked with opening and sanitising that air corridor? Who clears the ground threat for you?
The Anza and Starstreak are two types of Malaysian MANPADS that you can read about in the book. Both are designed to engage targets at low level, but use different guidance systems. Anza is a heat seeker while Starstreak is guided by lasers.
I have tried to give readers more than a simple point-and-shoot scenario. To do so, I looked at the kill probablity (Pk) for single shot Pk and multi shot engagements, thought about how such systems might be deployed, weapon effects (warhead size etc), and listened to tactical innovations that the operators shared. I spoke to actual missile operators during Malaysian Armed Forces open houses in Kuala Lumpur and Port Dickson, and defence companies at various air shows and the Defence Services Asia show in KL to learn more about these systems and to get a feel of the dummy rounds.
You can read about Malaysian air defence units like 361 Bateri Rejimen Artileri Diraja (Para), which uses the Anza, and Pasukan Pertahanan Udara (Air Defence Troop) from the Royal Malaysian Navy and its Starstreak missiles. These are actual MAF units but the MANPADS employment scenarios are, needless to say, purely imaginary.
361 Bti RAD (Para) and PPU TLDM are ready for their fictional air defence mission. Are you ready to join them as they go into action?
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