Starstreak (Produced by Thales air defense) is a
laser guided system, deployed from armored vehicles and other
light vehicles, helicopters or by dismounted infantrymen. The
system can also be dismounted and deploy on a tripod. The range of
the HVM is expected to be 6,000 m'. The missile was recently
exported to South Africa, to provide a fully integrated
manportable and air droppable air defence capability for South
African troops deployed on peace-keeping operations. The missiles
are supported by the Page radar systems also supplied by Thales. Thales
has also supplied the Starstreak High Velocity Missile (HVM) to
the British Army for low level air defence operations. The British
system is deployed on the Alvis Stormer armored vehicle, augmented
by the ADAD, it has eight ready to fire missiles and twelve
reloads. The system automatically generates laser guidance
commands for the three hypersonic darts projected at the target.
The Armored Starstreak (SP-HVM) is operational with the British
Army since 1999.
