For a long time, in the face of low altitude aircraft's strafing and dropping bombs, infantry can only hide and dodge on the spot, but the birth of a missile - man portable air defense missile has changed this situation. The US stinger air defense missile is a kind of man portable air defense missile, which can be launched by infantry in groups of two. In the war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, guerrillas with only simple training set a record of shooting down an average of one Soviet plane a day. In total, they shot down more than 200 planes of all types. The "stinger" man portable air defense missile was put into the battlefield, which greatly accelerated the withdrawal process of the Soviet army from Afghanistan. Followed by the "arrow-2" missile made by the Soviet Union (called "sam-7" by the United States). It shot down more than 20 American warplanes in three months of the Vietnam War, and nearly 100 Israeli warplanes also became its prey in the Middle East war in 1973.
"Stinger" and "arrow-2" are portable air defense missiles. This type of missile is mainly used to intercept low altitude targets with a flight altitude of 100 ~ 1000 meters and ultra-low altitude targets with a flight altitude of 100 meters. This altitude is mostly the blind area of the ground radar, so the portable missile generally does not rely on the guidance of the ground radar, but uses its own infrared seeker to find the target by detecting the heat of the flame emitted by the aircraft engine.
The man portable air defense missile has the advantages of flexible operation and strong concealment. Moreover, the missile itself has low cost and small shape. Generally, the length of the missile is no more than 1.5m, the diameter of the missile is less than 0.1M, and the mass is no more than 10 ~ 15kg. It takes only a few seconds to change from marching state to combat state. It can be launched from simple triangular support, watchtower, roof, and even moving motor vehicles and ships. Even in harsh terrain, soldiers can shoot on their shoulders, so walkers can carry them wherever they can.
Although the man portable air defense missile is small, it is very effective against fixed wing aircraft, UAVs, armed helicopters and cruise missiles. It is especially suitable for attacking all kinds of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters in the take-off and landing stages. In addition to the "stinger" and "arrow-2", the famous man portable air defense missiles include France's "northwest wind" and Britain's "javelin". They have made good achievements in the defense of ultra-low altitude targets and become the nemesis of low altitude and ultra-low altitude targets.