9M14 Malyutka

The 9M14 Malyutka (Russian: Малютка; "Little one", NATO reporting name: AT-3 Sagger) is a manual command to line of sight (MCLOS) wire-guided anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system developed in the Soviet Union. It was the first man-portable anti-tank guided missile of the Soviet Union and is probably the most widely produced ATGM of all time—with Soviet production peaking at 25,000 missiles a year during the 1960s and 1970s. In addition, copies of the missile have been manufactured under various names by at least six countries.

Although they have been supplanted by more advanced anti-tank guided missiles, the Malyutka and its variants have seen widespread use in nearly every regional conflict since the 1960s and are still kept in large stockpiles and sometimes used to this day by non state actors such as Hezbollah.^[7]

Development

Development began in July 1961 with the government assigning the project to two design teams: Tula and Kolomna.^[8] The requirements were:

• Vehicle mountable and/or man portable
• Range of 3,000 meters
• Armor penetration of 200 millimetres at 60°
• Maximum weight of 10 kilograms

The designs were based on the Western ATGMs of the 1950s, such as the French

Description

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The missile can be fired from a portable suitcase launcher (9P111), ground vehicles (

Soko Gazelle

). The missile takes about five minutes to deploy from its 9P111 fibreglass suitcase, which also serves as the launching platform.

The missile is guided to the target by means of a small joystick (9S415), which requires intensive training of the operator. The operator's adjustments are transmitted to the missile via a thin three-strand wire that trails behind the missile. The missile climbs into the air immediately after launch, which prevents it from hitting obstacles or the ground. In flight, the missile spins at 8.5 revolutions per second—it is initially spun by its booster, and the spin is maintained by the slight angle of the wings. The missile uses a small gyroscope to orient itself relative to the ground; as a result, the missile can take some time to bring back in line with the target, which gives it a minimum range of between 500 and 800 metres (550 and 870 yd). For targets under 1,000 m, the operator can guide the missile by eye; for targets beyond this range the operator uses the eight-power, 22.5-degree field of view, 9Sh16 periscope sight.

The engagement envelope is a 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) wide, 45-degree arc centered on the missile's launch axis. At ranges under 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi), this arc reduces until, at the 500 metres (550 yd) range, the missile can only hit targets 50 metres (55 yd) either side of the center line. Accuracy falls off away from the launch axis—falling to approximately half its optimal accuracy at the extremes.

While early estimates of the missile hitting the target ranged from 60 to 90%, experience has shown that it can drop to an efficiency between 2 and 25% in case of less than optimal conditions and lack of skill from the operator. In fact, MCLOS requires considerable skill on the part of the operator, nevertheless, the weapon has always been quite popular with its operators and has enjoyed a constant updating effort both in the Soviet Union/Russia and in other countries.

The two most serious defects of the original weapon are its minimum range of between 500 and 800 metres (550 and 870 yd) (targets that are closer cannot be effectively engaged) and the amount of time it takes the slow moving missile to reach maximum range—around 30 seconds—giving the intended target time to take appropriate action, either by retreating behind an obstacle, laying down a

History

In Soviet service, the man-portable version was deployed as part of the anti-tank platoon of motor rifle battalions. Each platoon had two Malyutka sections, each with two teams. Each team had two launcher stations. One assistant gunner in each team served as an RPG-7 gunner. The RPG-7 was needed to cover the 500 meter deadzone created by the minimum range of the missile.

It is also an integrated part of the BMP-1, BMD-1, and BRDM-2 vehicles.

Vietnam War

On 23 April 1972, the recently organized Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) 20th Tank Regiment was attacked by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) employing the Malyutka for the first time.^[10] The 20th was the only South Vietnamese armor unit equipped with the M48 Patton tank. This first employment of the Malyutka destroyed one M48A3 and one M113 armored cavalry assault vehicle (ACAV), and a second ACAV was damaged.^[11]: 210

During this engagement with the weapon, the ARVN tankers appeared fascinated by the missile's slow and erratic flight,^{[11]: 210–11} but through experience, they soon deployed countermeasures against the weapon system. Upon launching by the enemy, ARVN crewmen would fire all their weapons towards the missile's firing position, which would make the gunner flinch and lose control of his missile. Although the gunner could take cover away from the launch site, the joystick control wire only allowed 15 meters of clearance. During the engagement, the ARVN eventually lost eight tanks to the 9M14M missile, but had developed tactics to defend themselves against it.^[10]

During the Battle of Kontum (1972), 33 missiles were fired and 32 hit, destroying four tanks, two howitzers, six bunkers and seven other targets.^[12]

During the Battle of Cửa Việt (1973), the PAVN put up fierce resistance to the attack, destroying 26 M48s and M113s with 9M14 missiles.^{[13]: 129–31}

Vietnam claims that throughout the war, PAVN gunner Dao Van Tien fired 134 missiles and 130 hit, destroying 23 tanks and APCs, 12 howitzers, 27 bunkers and 17 other targets.^[14]

Yom Kippur War

The missile was employed by Arab armies during the initial phases of the

Syrian rebels have also uploaded videos of themselves firing Malyutkas against government forces since late 2012.[20]

2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel

On 7th October 2023, a Palestinian faction, Al-Quds Brigades uploaded a video of them on Telegram supposedly operating a Malyutka inside a building located adjacent with the Israeli border against an Israeli vehicle near Nahal Oz.^[21] However, The article cited has mistaken the Malyutka used as an Iranian RAAD).^[22] Similar rockets were fired in large numbers by Hezbollah on Israeli targets along the northren Israeli border during the war.

Models

• 9M14 Malyutka
  • 9M14 Malyutka (NATO reporting name AT-3 Sagger)
    MCLOS
    , entered service in 1963.
  • 9M14P Malyutka-P (NATO reporting name AT-3C Sagger C)
    SACLOS
    , entered service in 1969. Improved warhead (460 mm versus RHA)
    • 9M14P1 Improved warhead (520 mm versus RHA), and a stand off probe for improved capability against
      ERA
      .
    • 9M14MP1
    • 9M14MP2
  • 9M14M Malyutka-M (NATO reporting name AT-3B Sagger B)
    MCLOS
    , entered service in 1973. Improved motor, reducing flight time to maximum range. Mass 11 kg. Range 3 km.
  • 9M14-2 Malyutka-2 (NATO reporting name AT-3D Sagger D)
    HEAT
    warhead (800 mm penetration versus RHA). Weight 12.5 kg. Range 3 km.
    • 9M14-2M Malyutka-2M 4.2 kg tandem HEAT warhead for improved capability against
      ERA
      . Weight 13.5 kg. Speed 120 m/s.
    • 9M14-2P Malyutka-2P
    • 9M14-2F Malyutka-2F 3.0 kg
      thermobaric
      warhead. Intended for use against troops and soft vehicles.
    • 9M14P-2F
    • 9M14-2T
      ERA. Weight 13.7 kg. Speed 120 m/s.^[24]
    • 2T5 Serbian VTI Malyutka-2T5 range 5 kilometers, guided missile via radio control. Speed 200 m/s.
• HJ-73 Hongjian Red Arrow-73 China
  • HJ-73
    MCLOS
    entered service in 1979
  • HJ-73A
    SACLOS
    new guidance system as well as stronger primary warhead.
  • HJ-73B
    ERA
  • HJ-73C SACLOS tandem HEAT warhead to penetrate vehicles protected by ERA. Launcher equipped with thermals.[25]
• RAAD Iran
  • RAAD 9M14M clone
  • RAAD-T tandem HEAT warhead
  • I-RAAD
    SACLOS
  • I-RAAD-T SACLOS tandem HEAT warhead
• Susong-Po North Korean
• Maliutka M2T Romania, joint ELMEC and Euromissile project, uses MILAN 2T tandem warhead capable of defeating ~900mm of RHA.^[26]
• Kun Wu 1 In the 1970s, the Taiwanese National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology replicated and produced the 9M14 Malyutka as the Kun Wu.^[27] The ROC had obtained the 9M14 Malyutkas from South Vietnam. Due to the dated design and low priority placed on anti-tank weapons by the armed forces it was not widely adopted.^[28]

Production

The Malyutka and modern derivatives are still produced in several versions in following countries:

• North Korea – domestic version Susong-Po
• RAAD
• Serbia – few domestic modernized versions with different types of warheads, range and guidance
• SACLOS
  guidance
• China – HJ-73 variants
• Romania – Malyutka M2T
• Egypt – licensed modernized version AHRAM with new warheads and a thermal sight

Operators

Current

Non-state

Former

See also

• List of Russian weaponry
• List of NATO reporting names for anti-tank missiles

Notes

References

• Hull, A.W., Markov, D.R., Zaloga, S.J. (1999). Soviet/Russian Armor and Artillery Design Practices 1945 to Present. Darlington Productions.
  ISBN 1-892848-01-5
  .
• Противотанковый ракетный комплекс "Малютка" (9К14/9К11) (in Russian)
• ПТУР первого поколения в АОИ, by Oleg Granovsky (in Russian)
• ПТРК 9К11/9К14 «Малютка» (in Russian)
• Starry, Donn A., General. Mounted Combat in Vietnam. Vietnam Studies; Department of the Army. First printed 1978-CMH Pub 90–17.
• Dunstan, Simon. Vietnam Tracks-Armor in Battle. 1982 edition, Osrey Publishing;
  ISBN 0-89141-171-2
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 9K11 Malyutka.

• short YouTube video showing Sagger being unpacked and prepared to fire
• FAS report on AT-3 SAGGER Anti-Tank Guided Missile
• Russian webpage on AT-3 MALYUTKA