Strela-10

A Soviet missile system designed in 1976 to shoot down low-flying jets and helicopters, now used by both sides to hunt loitering munitions. Its infrared seeker was never meant to find something the size of a quadcopter, which is why Ukraine fitted nine of them with an electro-optical sight.

Overview

The 9K35 Strela-10, designated SA-13 Gopher by NATO, is a Soviet short-range surface-to-air missile system on a tracked MT-LB-derived chassis, carrying four ready 9M37 missiles on a trainable launcher. It entered service in 1976 as regimental air defence against low-flying strike aircraft and helicopters — the layer beneath the medium-range SAMs, and a contemporary of the ZSU-23-4 Shilka gun system it was designed to complement.

Its distinguishing technical feature is the 9M37 missile's dual-channel seeker, which runs passive infrared and photo-contrast guidance in parallel. Photo-contrast homing tracks a target against the visual contrast of the sky behind it rather than by heat, which gives the missile a way to engage targets with a weak thermal signature — an unusual capability for a system of its generation and one that turns out to matter against drones.

Both Russia and Ukraine field it, and both now use it primarily against unmanned aircraft rather than the manned targets it was built for. Ukraine upgraded nine systems with an electro-optical package in 2024; Russian crews have used it against Ukrainian Hornet attack drones. Neither side has a documented record of using it successfully against small FPV quadcopters.

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