Blowpipe
- Extended Description
- Poor performance in the Falklands War led to it being withdrawn from UK service. Of the 100 missiles fired, only 9 managed to destroy their targets and all of these where slow flying planes and helicopters. In 1986 some of the mothballed units where sent clandestinely to equip the Mujahideen fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan . The system again proved ineffective, largely due to the very high operator input required to guide the missile from launch to impact (manual CLOS guidance). The failure of Blowpipe (a system which had been available on the international arms market and was therefore 'plausibly deniable') in Afghanistan led to the supply of the more capable (but restricted in availability) U.S. Stinger system. This necessitated a more open acknowledgment of western support for the Mujahideen. Blowpipe missile systems are still being found in weapon caches as recently as June 2003 in Afghanistan
Length: 1.35 m
Diameter: 76 mm
Wingspan: 274 mm
Missile weight: 11 kg
Complete system: 22 kg
Warhead: 2.2kg shaped charge
Range: 500 m to 3.5 km
Speed: Mach 1.5 (510 m/s)
