https://www.buildlogs.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Shorts_BlowpipeShorts Blowpipe - Revision history2026-05-28T06:34:06ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.41.0https://www.buildlogs.org/index.php?title=Shorts_Blowpipe&diff=1192905&oldid=prevEvil Tim at 15:53, 27 June 20182018-06-27T15:53:30Z<p></p>
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<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The system's odd appearance with two different barrel diameters is because, rather than use pop-out fins like most MANPADS launchers, the Blowpipe has fixed fins. To avoid having soldiers carry a launcher over four feet long and almost eleven inches in diameter, the tail assembly is detached and stored in the forward part of the tube, with the missile's fuselage going through it and into the slimmer rear tube: during launch, the missile slides out through the tail assembly, which is then fixed in place by a heat-sensitive glue. The missile uses a soft-launch system with a two-stage rocket motor, the sustainer motor accelerating it to Mach 1.5.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The system's odd appearance with two different barrel diameters is because, rather than use pop-out fins like most MANPADS launchers, the Blowpipe has fixed fins. To avoid having soldiers carry a launcher over four feet long and almost eleven inches in diameter, the tail assembly is detached and stored in the forward part of the tube, with the missile's fuselage going through it and into the slimmer rear tube: during launch, the missile slides out through the tail assembly, which is then fixed in place by a heat-sensitive glue. The missile uses a soft-launch system with a two-stage rocket motor, the sustainer motor accelerating it to Mach 1.5.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe uses an exceptionally strange wireless radio command guidance system. The missile starts out in a SACLOS guidance mode with the launcher using the integral IR scope to track a thermal beacon on the missile's tail and automatically guiding it to the sight's crosshair (in a similar manner to systems like [[BGM-71 TOW]]), but 2-3 seconds after launch this is switched to MCLOS guidance, with the operator steering the missile directly using a small thumbstick: four flares on the missile's tail with sequential igniters assist the operator in visually tracking the missile. While this system had a theoretical advantage over period IR-guided tail-chasing missiles ([[FIM-43 Redeye]], [[SA-7 Grail]]) in that it could be fired at an aircraft while it was still approaching, like all MCLOS missiles not featuring TV guidance, it was difficult to use against a moving target since the operator had to keep track of both the missile and the target at the same time: this task was difficult enough for ATGM systems, nevermind a SAM system. The missile has a range of 0.3 to 2.17 miles: on reaching maximum range, or if radio contact with the launcher is lost, the missile will self-destruct. As is normal for such systems, the missiles are provided in disposable launch tubes, which the reusable {{convert|kg|6.2}} sight unit is attached to prior to firing.</div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe uses an exceptionally strange wireless radio command guidance system. The missile starts out in a SACLOS guidance mode with the launcher using the integral IR scope to track a thermal beacon on the missile's tail and automatically guiding it to the sight's crosshair (in a similar manner to systems like [[BGM-71 TOW]]), but 2-3 seconds after launch this is switched to MCLOS guidance, with the operator steering the missile directly using a small thumbstick: four flares on the missile's tail with sequential igniters assist the operator in visually tracking the missile. While this system had a theoretical advantage over period IR-guided tail-chasing missiles ([[FIM-43 Redeye]], [[SA-7 Grail]]) in that it could be fired at an aircraft while it was still approaching, like all MCLOS missiles not featuring TV guidance, it was difficult to use against a moving target since the operator had to keep track of both the missile and the target at the same time: this task was difficult enough for ATGM systems, nevermind a SAM system. The missile has a range of 0.3 to 2.17 miles: on reaching maximum range, or if radio contact with the launcher is lost, the missile will self-destruct. As is normal for such systems, the missiles are provided in disposable launch tubes, which the reusable {{convert|kg|6.2}} sight unit is attached to prior to firing<ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">. Missiles were transported in the field packed in a high-impact plastic protective case nicknamed the "wine bottle" due to its conical "neck," with integral shoulder straps to be worn on the soldier's back</ins>.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>One very unusual application was the Submarine Launched Airflight Missile (SLAM), a cluster of six launch tubes in a retractable mounting designed to be installed in a submarine's conning tower to defend it while surfaced: this system was trialled on the ''Amphion''-class submarine HMS ''Aeneas'' and despite the Royal Navy immediately realising it was a really bad idea, somehow made its way onto the three Israeli ''Gal''-class submarines.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>One very unusual application was the Submarine Launched Airflight Missile (SLAM), a cluster of six launch tubes in a retractable mounting designed to be installed in a submarine's conning tower to defend it while surfaced: this system was trialled on the ''Amphion''-class submarine HMS ''Aeneas'' and despite the Royal Navy immediately realising it was a really bad idea, somehow made its way onto the three Israeli ''Gal''-class submarines.</div></td></tr>
</table>Evil Timhttps://www.buildlogs.org/index.php?title=Shorts_Blowpipe&diff=1192899&oldid=prevEvil Tim at 15:41, 27 June 20182018-06-27T15:41:54Z<p></p>
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<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>''(In service 1975-1985, production ended 1993)''</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>''(In service 1975-1985, production ended 1993)''</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''Type:''' MANPADS</div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''Type:''' MANPADS<ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">, Surface-to-air missile (SLAM)</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''Caliber:''' Front tube 274mm (10.8in), rear tube 76mm (3in), {{convert|kg|2.2}} impact or proximity fuzed HE fragmentation or HE-DP hollow charge warhead</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''Caliber:''' Front tube 274mm (10.8in), rear tube 76mm (3in), {{convert|kg|2.2}} impact or proximity fuzed HE fragmentation or HE-DP hollow charge warhead</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''Capacity:''' 1 missile, disposable launch <del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">tube</del></div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''Capacity:''' 1 missile <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">in disposable launch tube (MANPADS)</ins>, <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">6 missiles in </ins>disposable launch <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">tubes (SLAM)</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''System weight:''' {{convert|kg|22}}</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''System weight:''' {{convert|kg|22}}</div></td></tr>
</table>Evil Timhttps://www.buildlogs.org/index.php?title=Shorts_Blowpipe&diff=1192895&oldid=prevEvil Tim at 15:24, 27 June 20182018-06-27T15:24:58Z<p></p>
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 15:24, 27 June 2018</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l9">Line 9:</td>
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<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>One very unusual application was the Submarine Launched Airflight Missile (SLAM), a cluster of six launch tubes in a retractable mounting designed to be installed in a submarine's conning tower to defend it while surfaced: this system was trialled on the ''Amphion''-class submarine HMS ''Aeneas'' and despite the Royal Navy immediately realising it was a really bad idea, somehow made its way onto the three Israeli ''Gal''-class submarines.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>One very unusual application was the Submarine Launched Airflight Missile (SLAM), a cluster of six launch tubes in a retractable mounting designed to be installed in a submarine's conning tower to defend it while surfaced: this system was trialled on the ''Amphion''-class submarine HMS ''Aeneas'' and despite the Royal Navy immediately realising it was a really bad idea, somehow made its way onto the three Israeli ''Gal''-class submarines.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe proved to be extremely ineffective in the Falklands War, where it was used by both sides: in spite of over a hundred Blowpipe launches (the British alone firing 95), postwar studies could only credit two kills to the system, one British Harrier and one Argentine helicopter. Royal Marine Brigadier Julian Thompson described using it as like "trying to shoot pheasants with a drainpipe." Blowpipes would later be supplied to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to similarly little effect.</div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe proved to be <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">unreliable and </ins>extremely ineffective in the Falklands War, where it was used by both sides: in spite of over a hundred Blowpipe launches (the British alone firing 95), postwar studies could only credit two kills to the system, one British Harrier and one Argentine helicopter. Royal Marine Brigadier Julian Thompson described using it as like "trying to shoot pheasants with a drainpipe." Blowpipes would later be supplied to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to similarly little effect.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The system was replaced with a derivative, the fully SACLOS Shorts Javelin launcher (not in any way related to the later American system) in 1985, which was itself later replaced by the laser-guided Javelin S-15 (known as Starburst in British service) in 1993 prior to the adoption of the [[Starstreak HVM]] in 1997. Production of Blowpipe missiles for a handful of export customers trundled on until 1993 with a total production run of 34,382 launch tubes. Antique Blowpipe launchers were pulled out of storage by the Canadian Navy during the 1991 Gulf War, though 9 of the 27 test-firings resulted in malfunctions, and Ecuador apparently became the only power to actually find Blowpipe useful during the 1995 Cenepa War, where they were mostly used against Peruvian helicopters.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The system was replaced with a derivative, the fully SACLOS Shorts Javelin launcher (not in any way related to the later American system) in 1985, which was itself later replaced by the laser-guided Javelin S-15 (known as Starburst in British service) in 1993 prior to the adoption of the [[Starstreak HVM]] in 1997. Production of Blowpipe missiles for a handful of export customers trundled on until 1993 with a total production run of 34,382 launch tubes. Antique Blowpipe launchers were pulled out of storage by the Canadian Navy during the 1991 Gulf War, though 9 of the 27 test-firings resulted in malfunctions, and Ecuador apparently became the only power to actually find Blowpipe useful during the 1995 Cenepa War, where they were mostly used against Peruvian helicopters.</div></td></tr>
</table>Evil Timhttps://www.buildlogs.org/index.php?title=Shorts_Blowpipe&diff=1192893&oldid=prevEvil Tim at 15:12, 27 June 20182018-06-27T15:12:05Z<p></p>
<table style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122;" data-mw="interface">
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 15:12, 27 June 2018</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l7">Line 7:</td>
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<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe uses an exceptionally strange wireless radio command guidance system. The missile starts out in a SACLOS guidance mode with the launcher using the integral IR scope to track a thermal beacon on the missile's tail and automatically guiding it to the sight's crosshair (in a similar manner to systems like [[BGM-71 TOW]]), but 2-3 seconds after launch this is switched to MCLOS guidance, with the operator steering the missile directly using a small thumbstick: four flares on the missile's tail with sequential igniters assist the operator in visually tracking the missile. While this system had a theoretical advantage over period IR-guided tail-chasing missiles ([[FIM-43 Redeye]], [[SA-7 Grail]]) in that it could be fired at an aircraft while it was still approaching, like all MCLOS missiles not featuring TV guidance, it was difficult to use against a moving target since the operator had to keep track of both the missile and the target at the same time: this task was difficult enough for ATGM systems, nevermind a SAM system. The missile has a range of 0.3 to 2.17 miles: on reaching maximum range, or if radio contact with the launcher is lost, the missile will self-destruct. As is normal for such systems, the missiles are provided in disposable launch tubes, which the reusable {{convert|kg|6.2}} sight unit is attached to prior to firing.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe uses an exceptionally strange wireless radio command guidance system. The missile starts out in a SACLOS guidance mode with the launcher using the integral IR scope to track a thermal beacon on the missile's tail and automatically guiding it to the sight's crosshair (in a similar manner to systems like [[BGM-71 TOW]]), but 2-3 seconds after launch this is switched to MCLOS guidance, with the operator steering the missile directly using a small thumbstick: four flares on the missile's tail with sequential igniters assist the operator in visually tracking the missile. While this system had a theoretical advantage over period IR-guided tail-chasing missiles ([[FIM-43 Redeye]], [[SA-7 Grail]]) in that it could be fired at an aircraft while it was still approaching, like all MCLOS missiles not featuring TV guidance, it was difficult to use against a moving target since the operator had to keep track of both the missile and the target at the same time: this task was difficult enough for ATGM systems, nevermind a SAM system. The missile has a range of 0.3 to 2.17 miles: on reaching maximum range, or if radio contact with the launcher is lost, the missile will self-destruct. As is normal for such systems, the missiles are provided in disposable launch tubes, which the reusable {{convert|kg|6.2}} sight unit is attached to prior to firing.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>One very unusual application was the Submarine Launched Airflight Missile (SLAM), a cluster of six launch tubes in a retractable mounting designed to be installed in a submarine's conning tower to defend it while surfaced: this system was trialled on the ''Amphion''-class submarine HMS ''Aeneas'' and despite the Royal Navy immediately realising it was a really bad idea, somehow made <del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">their </del>way onto the three Israeli ''Gal''-class submarines.</div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>One very unusual application was the Submarine Launched Airflight Missile (SLAM), a cluster of six launch tubes in a retractable mounting designed to be installed in a submarine's conning tower to defend it while surfaced: this system was trialled on the ''Amphion''-class submarine HMS ''Aeneas'' and despite the Royal Navy immediately realising it was a really bad idea, somehow made <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">its </ins>way onto the three Israeli ''Gal''-class submarines.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe proved to be extremely ineffective in the Falklands War, where it was used by both sides: in spite of over a hundred Blowpipe launches (the British alone firing 95), postwar studies could only credit two kills to the system, one British Harrier and one Argentine helicopter. Royal Marine Brigadier Julian Thompson described using it as like "trying to shoot pheasants with a drainpipe." Blowpipes would later be supplied to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to similarly little effect.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe proved to be extremely ineffective in the Falklands War, where it was used by both sides: in spite of over a hundred Blowpipe launches (the British alone firing 95), postwar studies could only credit two kills to the system, one British Harrier and one Argentine helicopter. Royal Marine Brigadier Julian Thompson described using it as like "trying to shoot pheasants with a drainpipe." Blowpipes would later be supplied to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to similarly little effect.</div></td></tr>
</table>Evil Timhttps://www.buildlogs.org/index.php?title=Shorts_Blowpipe&diff=1192892&oldid=prevEvil Tim at 15:11, 27 June 20182018-06-27T15:11:35Z<p></p>
<table style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122;" data-mw="interface">
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<tr class="diff-title" lang="en">
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 15:11, 27 June 2018</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l7">Line 7:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 7:</td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe uses an exceptionally strange wireless radio command guidance system. The missile starts out in a SACLOS guidance mode with the launcher using the integral IR scope to track a thermal beacon on the missile's tail and automatically guiding it to the sight's crosshair (in a similar manner to systems like [[BGM-71 TOW]]), but 2-3 seconds after launch this is switched to MCLOS guidance, with the operator steering the missile directly using a small thumbstick: four flares on the missile's tail with sequential igniters assist the operator in visually tracking the missile. While this system had a theoretical advantage over period IR-guided tail-chasing missiles ([[FIM-43 Redeye]], [[SA-7 Grail]]) in that it could be fired at an aircraft while it was still approaching, like all MCLOS missiles not featuring TV guidance, it was difficult to use against a moving target since the operator had to keep track of both the missile and the target at the same time: this task was difficult enough for ATGM systems, nevermind a SAM system. The missile has a range of 0.3 to 2.17 miles: on reaching maximum range, or if radio contact with the launcher is lost, the missile will self-destruct. As is normal for such systems, the missiles are provided in disposable launch tubes, which the reusable {{convert|kg|6.2}} sight unit is attached to prior to firing.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe uses an exceptionally strange wireless radio command guidance system. The missile starts out in a SACLOS guidance mode with the launcher using the integral IR scope to track a thermal beacon on the missile's tail and automatically guiding it to the sight's crosshair (in a similar manner to systems like [[BGM-71 TOW]]), but 2-3 seconds after launch this is switched to MCLOS guidance, with the operator steering the missile directly using a small thumbstick: four flares on the missile's tail with sequential igniters assist the operator in visually tracking the missile. While this system had a theoretical advantage over period IR-guided tail-chasing missiles ([[FIM-43 Redeye]], [[SA-7 Grail]]) in that it could be fired at an aircraft while it was still approaching, like all MCLOS missiles not featuring TV guidance, it was difficult to use against a moving target since the operator had to keep track of both the missile and the target at the same time: this task was difficult enough for ATGM systems, nevermind a SAM system. The missile has a range of 0.3 to 2.17 miles: on reaching maximum range, or if radio contact with the launcher is lost, the missile will self-destruct. As is normal for such systems, the missiles are provided in disposable launch tubes, which the reusable {{convert|kg|6.2}} sight unit is attached to prior to firing.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Blowpipe proved </del>to be <del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">extremely ineffective </del>in <del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">the Falklands War, where </del>it was <del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">used by both sides: in spite of over a hundred Blowpipe launches (</del>the <del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">British alone firing 96), postwar studies could only credit two kills to </del>the <del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">system, one British Harrier and one Argentine helicopter. </del>Royal <del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Marine Brigadier Julian Thompson described using </del>it <del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">as like "trying to shoot pheasants with </del>a <del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">drainpipe." Blowpipes would later be supplied to </del>the <del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Mujahideen in Afghanistan to similarly little effect</del>.</div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">One very unusual application was the Submarine Launched Airflight Missile (SLAM), a cluster of six launch tubes in a retractable mounting designed </ins>to be <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">installed </ins>in <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">a submarine's conning tower to defend </ins>it <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">while surfaced: this system </ins>was <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">trialled on </ins>the <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">''Amphion''-class submarine HMS ''Aeneas'' and despite </ins>the Royal <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Navy immediately realising </ins>it <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">was </ins>a <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">really bad idea, somehow made their way onto </ins>the <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">three Israeli ''Gal''-class submarines</ins>.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The system was replaced with a derivative, the fully SACLOS Shorts Javelin launcher (not in any way related to the later American system) in 1985, which was itself later replaced by the laser-guided Javelin S-15 (known as Starburst in British service) in 1993 prior to the adoption of the [[Starstreak HVM]] in 1997. Production of Blowpipe missiles for a handful of export customers trundled on until 1993. Antique Blowpipe launchers were pulled out of storage by the Canadian Navy during the 1991 Gulf War, though 9 of the 27 test-firings resulted in malfunctions, and Ecuador apparently became the only power to actually find Blowpipe useful during the 1995 Cenepa War, where they were mostly used against Peruvian helicopters.</div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Blowpipe proved to be extremely ineffective in the Falklands War, where it was used by both sides: in spite of over a hundred Blowpipe launches (the British alone firing 95), postwar studies could only credit two kills to the system, one British Harrier and one Argentine helicopter. Royal Marine Brigadier Julian Thompson described using it as like "trying to shoot pheasants with a drainpipe." Blowpipes would later be supplied to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to similarly little effect.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-side-deleted"></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-side-deleted"></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The system was replaced with a derivative, the fully SACLOS Shorts Javelin launcher (not in any way related to the later American system) in 1985, which was itself later replaced by the laser-guided Javelin S-15 (known as Starburst in British service) in 1993 prior to the adoption of the [[Starstreak HVM]] in 1997. Production of Blowpipe missiles for a handful of export customers trundled on until 1993 <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">with a total production run of 34,382 launch tubes</ins>. Antique Blowpipe launchers were pulled out of storage by the Canadian Navy during the 1991 Gulf War, though 9 of the 27 test-firings resulted in malfunctions, and Ecuador apparently became the only power to actually find Blowpipe useful during the 1995 Cenepa War, where they were mostly used against Peruvian helicopters.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The British Army maintains a stock of 285 Blowpipe launchers, though it is unlikely that they could explain why.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The British Army maintains a stock of 285 Blowpipe launchers, though it is unlikely that they could explain why.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l20">Line 20:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 22:</td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''Type:''' MANPADS</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''Type:''' MANPADS</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''Caliber:''' Front tube 274mm (10.8in), rear tube 76mm (3in), {{convert|kg|2.2}} impact or proximity fuzed hollow charge warhead</div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''Caliber:''' Front tube 274mm (10.8in), rear tube 76mm (3in), {{convert|kg|2.2}} impact or proximity fuzed <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">HE fragmentation or HE-DP </ins>hollow charge warhead</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''Capacity:''' 1 missile, disposable launch tube</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>'''Capacity:''' 1 missile, disposable launch tube</div></td></tr>
</table>Evil Timhttps://www.buildlogs.org/index.php?title=Shorts_Blowpipe&diff=1192891&oldid=prevEvil Tim at 14:57, 27 June 20182018-06-27T14:57:35Z<p></p>
<table style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122;" data-mw="interface">
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<tr class="diff-title" lang="en">
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 14:57, 27 June 2018</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l5">Line 5:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 5:</td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The system's odd appearance with two different barrel diameters is because, rather than use pop-out fins like most MANPADS launchers, the Blowpipe has fixed fins. To avoid having soldiers carry a launcher over four feet long and almost eleven inches in diameter, the tail assembly is detached and stored in the forward part of the tube, with the missile's fuselage going through it and into the slimmer rear tube: during launch, the missile slides out through the tail assembly, which is then fixed in place by a heat-sensitive glue. The missile uses a soft-launch system with a two-stage rocket motor, the sustainer motor accelerating it to Mach 1.5.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The system's odd appearance with two different barrel diameters is because, rather than use pop-out fins like most MANPADS launchers, the Blowpipe has fixed fins. To avoid having soldiers carry a launcher over four feet long and almost eleven inches in diameter, the tail assembly is detached and stored in the forward part of the tube, with the missile's fuselage going through it and into the slimmer rear tube: during launch, the missile slides out through the tail assembly, which is then fixed in place by a heat-sensitive glue. The missile uses a soft-launch system with a two-stage rocket motor, the sustainer motor accelerating it to Mach 1.5.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe uses an exceptionally strange wireless radio command guidance system. The missile starts out in a SACLOS guidance mode with the launcher using the integral IR scope to track a thermal beacon on the missile's tail and automatically guiding it to the sight's crosshair (in a similar manner to systems like [[BGM-71 TOW]]), but 2-3 seconds after launch this is switched to MCLOS guidance, with the operator steering the missile directly using a small thumbstick: four flares on the missile's tail with sequential igniters assist the operator in visually tracking the missile. While this system had a theoretical advantage over period IR-guided tail-chasing missiles ([[FIM-43 Redeye]], [[SA-7 Grail]]) in that it could be fired at an aircraft while it was still approaching, like all MCLOS missiles not featuring TV guidance, it was difficult to use against a moving target since the operator had to keep track of both the missile and the target at the same time: this task was difficult enough for ATGM systems, nevermind a SAM system. The missile has a range of 0.3 to 2.17 miles: on reaching maximum range, or if radio contact with the launcher is lost, the missile will self-destruct. As is normal for such systems, the missiles are provided in disposable launch tubes, which the reusable {{convert|kg|6}} sight unit is attached to prior to firing.</div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe uses an exceptionally strange wireless radio command guidance system. The missile starts out in a SACLOS guidance mode with the launcher using the integral IR scope to track a thermal beacon on the missile's tail and automatically guiding it to the sight's crosshair (in a similar manner to systems like [[BGM-71 TOW]]), but 2-3 seconds after launch this is switched to MCLOS guidance, with the operator steering the missile directly using a small thumbstick: four flares on the missile's tail with sequential igniters assist the operator in visually tracking the missile. While this system had a theoretical advantage over period IR-guided tail-chasing missiles ([[FIM-43 Redeye]], [[SA-7 Grail]]) in that it could be fired at an aircraft while it was still approaching, like all MCLOS missiles not featuring TV guidance, it was difficult to use against a moving target since the operator had to keep track of both the missile and the target at the same time: this task was difficult enough for ATGM systems, nevermind a SAM system. The missile has a range of 0.3 to 2.17 miles: on reaching maximum range, or if radio contact with the launcher is lost, the missile will self-destruct. As is normal for such systems, the missiles are provided in disposable launch tubes, which the reusable {{convert|kg|6<ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">.2</ins>}} sight unit is attached to prior to firing.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe proved to be extremely ineffective in the Falklands War, where it was used by both sides: in spite of over a hundred Blowpipe launches (the British alone firing 96), postwar studies could only credit two kills to the system, one British Harrier and one Argentine helicopter. Royal Marine Brigadier Julian Thompson described using it as like "trying to shoot pheasants with a drainpipe." Blowpipes would later be supplied to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to similarly little effect.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe proved to be extremely ineffective in the Falklands War, where it was used by both sides: in spite of over a hundred Blowpipe launches (the British alone firing 96), postwar studies could only credit two kills to the system, one British Harrier and one Argentine helicopter. Royal Marine Brigadier Julian Thompson described using it as like "trying to shoot pheasants with a drainpipe." Blowpipes would later be supplied to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to similarly little effect.</div></td></tr>
</table>Evil Timhttps://www.buildlogs.org/index.php?title=Shorts_Blowpipe&diff=1192890&oldid=prevEvil Tim at 14:56, 27 June 20182018-06-27T14:56:08Z<p></p>
<table style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122;" data-mw="interface">
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<tr class="diff-title" lang="en">
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 14:56, 27 June 2018</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l5">Line 5:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 5:</td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The system's odd appearance with two different barrel diameters is because, rather than use pop-out fins like most MANPADS launchers, the Blowpipe has fixed fins. To avoid having soldiers carry a launcher over four feet long and almost eleven inches in diameter, the tail assembly is detached and stored in the forward part of the tube, with the missile's fuselage going through it and into the slimmer rear tube: during launch, the missile slides out through the tail assembly, which is then fixed in place by a heat-sensitive glue. The missile uses a soft-launch system with a two-stage rocket motor, the sustainer motor accelerating it to Mach 1.5.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The system's odd appearance with two different barrel diameters is because, rather than use pop-out fins like most MANPADS launchers, the Blowpipe has fixed fins. To avoid having soldiers carry a launcher over four feet long and almost eleven inches in diameter, the tail assembly is detached and stored in the forward part of the tube, with the missile's fuselage going through it and into the slimmer rear tube: during launch, the missile slides out through the tail assembly, which is then fixed in place by a heat-sensitive glue. The missile uses a soft-launch system with a two-stage rocket motor, the sustainer motor accelerating it to Mach 1.5.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe uses an exceptionally strange wireless radio command guidance system. The missile starts out in a SACLOS guidance mode with the launcher using the integral IR scope to track a thermal beacon on the missile's tail and automatically guiding it to the sight's crosshair (in a similar manner to systems like [[BGM-71 TOW]]), but 2-3 seconds after launch this is switched to MCLOS guidance, with the operator steering the missile directly using a small thumbstick: four flares on the missile's tail with sequential igniters assist the operator in visually tracking the missile. While this system had a theoretical advantage over period IR-guided tail-chasing missiles in that it could be fired at an aircraft while it was still approaching, like all MCLOS missiles not featuring TV guidance, it was difficult to use against a moving target since the operator had to keep track of both the missile and the target at the same time: this task was difficult enough for ATGM systems, nevermind a SAM system. The missile has a range of 0.3 to 2.17 miles: on reaching maximum range, or if radio contact with the launcher is lost, the missile will self-destruct. As is normal for such systems, the missiles are provided in disposable launch tubes, which the reusable {{convert|kg|6}} sight unit is attached to prior to firing.</div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe uses an exceptionally strange wireless radio command guidance system. The missile starts out in a SACLOS guidance mode with the launcher using the integral IR scope to track a thermal beacon on the missile's tail and automatically guiding it to the sight's crosshair (in a similar manner to systems like [[BGM-71 TOW]]), but 2-3 seconds after launch this is switched to MCLOS guidance, with the operator steering the missile directly using a small thumbstick: four flares on the missile's tail with sequential igniters assist the operator in visually tracking the missile. While this system had a theoretical advantage over period IR-guided tail-chasing missiles <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">([[FIM-43 Redeye]], [[SA-7 Grail]]) </ins>in that it could be fired at an aircraft while it was still approaching, like all MCLOS missiles not featuring TV guidance, it was difficult to use against a moving target since the operator had to keep track of both the missile and the target at the same time: this task was difficult enough for ATGM systems, nevermind a SAM system. The missile has a range of 0.3 to 2.17 miles: on reaching maximum range, or if radio contact with the launcher is lost, the missile will self-destruct. As is normal for such systems, the missiles are provided in disposable launch tubes, which the reusable {{convert|kg|6}} sight unit is attached to prior to firing.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe proved to be extremely ineffective in the Falklands War, where it was used by both sides: in spite of over a hundred Blowpipe launches (the British alone firing 96), postwar studies could only credit two kills to the system, one British Harrier and one Argentine helicopter. Royal Marine Brigadier Julian Thompson described using it as like "trying to shoot pheasants with a drainpipe." Blowpipes would later be supplied to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to similarly little effect.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe proved to be extremely ineffective in the Falklands War, where it was used by both sides: in spite of over a hundred Blowpipe launches (the British alone firing 96), postwar studies could only credit two kills to the system, one British Harrier and one Argentine helicopter. Royal Marine Brigadier Julian Thompson described using it as like "trying to shoot pheasants with a drainpipe." Blowpipes would later be supplied to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to similarly little effect.</div></td></tr>
</table>Evil Timhttps://www.buildlogs.org/index.php?title=Shorts_Blowpipe&diff=1192889&oldid=prevEvil Tim at 14:53, 27 June 20182018-06-27T14:53:30Z<p></p>
<table style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122;" data-mw="interface">
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<tr class="diff-title" lang="en">
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 14:53, 27 June 2018</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l5">Line 5:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 5:</td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The system's odd appearance with two different barrel diameters is because, rather than use pop-out fins like most MANPADS launchers, the Blowpipe has fixed fins. To avoid having soldiers carry a launcher over four feet long and almost eleven inches in diameter, the tail assembly is detached and stored in the forward part of the tube, with the missile's fuselage going through it and into the slimmer rear tube: during launch, the missile slides out through the tail assembly, which is then fixed in place by a heat-sensitive glue. The missile uses a soft-launch system with a two-stage rocket motor, the sustainer motor accelerating it to Mach 1.5.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The system's odd appearance with two different barrel diameters is because, rather than use pop-out fins like most MANPADS launchers, the Blowpipe has fixed fins. To avoid having soldiers carry a launcher over four feet long and almost eleven inches in diameter, the tail assembly is detached and stored in the forward part of the tube, with the missile's fuselage going through it and into the slimmer rear tube: during launch, the missile slides out through the tail assembly, which is then fixed in place by a heat-sensitive glue. The missile uses a soft-launch system with a two-stage rocket motor, the sustainer motor accelerating it to Mach 1.5.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe uses an exceptionally strange wireless radio command guidance system. The missile starts out in a SACLOS guidance mode with the launcher <del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">tracking </del>a beacon on the missile's tail and automatically guiding it to the sight's crosshair, but 2-3 seconds after launch this is switched to MCLOS guidance, with the operator steering the missile directly using a small thumbstick: four flares on the missile's tail with sequential igniters assist the operator in visually tracking the missile. While this system had a theoretical advantage over period IR-guided tail-chasing missiles in that it could be fired at an aircraft while it was still approaching, like all MCLOS missiles not featuring TV guidance, it was difficult to use against a moving target since the operator had to keep track of both the missile and the target at the same time: this task was difficult enough for ATGM systems, nevermind a SAM system. The missile has a range of 0.3 to 2.17 miles: on reaching maximum range, or if radio contact with the launcher is lost, the missile will self-destruct. As is normal for such systems, the missiles are provided in disposable launch tubes, which the reusable {{convert|kg|6}} sight unit is attached to prior to firing.</div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe uses an exceptionally strange wireless radio command guidance system. The missile starts out in a SACLOS guidance mode with the launcher <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">using the integral IR scope to track </ins>a <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">thermal </ins>beacon on the missile's tail and automatically guiding it to the sight's crosshair <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">(in a similar manner to systems like [[BGM-71 TOW]])</ins>, but 2-3 seconds after launch this is switched to MCLOS guidance, with the operator steering the missile directly using a small thumbstick: four flares on the missile's tail with sequential igniters assist the operator in visually tracking the missile. While this system had a theoretical advantage over period IR-guided tail-chasing missiles in that it could be fired at an aircraft while it was still approaching, like all MCLOS missiles not featuring TV guidance, it was difficult to use against a moving target since the operator had to keep track of both the missile and the target at the same time: this task was difficult enough for ATGM systems, nevermind a SAM system. The missile has a range of 0.3 to 2.17 miles: on reaching maximum range, or if radio contact with the launcher is lost, the missile will self-destruct. As is normal for such systems, the missiles are provided in disposable launch tubes, which the reusable {{convert|kg|6}} sight unit is attached to prior to firing.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe proved to be extremely ineffective in the Falklands War, where it was used by both sides: in spite of over a hundred Blowpipe launches (the British alone firing 96), postwar studies could only credit two kills to the system, one British Harrier and one Argentine helicopter. Royal Marine Brigadier Julian Thompson described using it as like "trying to shoot pheasants with a drainpipe." Blowpipes would later be supplied to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to similarly little effect.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe proved to be extremely ineffective in the Falklands War, where it was used by both sides: in spite of over a hundred Blowpipe launches (the British alone firing 96), postwar studies could only credit two kills to the system, one British Harrier and one Argentine helicopter. Royal Marine Brigadier Julian Thompson described using it as like "trying to shoot pheasants with a drainpipe." Blowpipes would later be supplied to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to similarly little effect.</div></td></tr>
</table>Evil Timhttps://www.buildlogs.org/index.php?title=Shorts_Blowpipe&diff=1192886&oldid=prevEvil Tim at 14:35, 27 June 20182018-06-27T14:35:27Z<p></p>
<table style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122;" data-mw="interface">
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<tr class="diff-title" lang="en">
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 14:35, 27 June 2018</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l3">Line 3:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 3:</td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The '''Shorts Blowpipe''' was a British MANPADS launcher developed by Short Brothers PLC in response to a Ministry of Defence operational requirement in 1966, with the design entering service in 1975.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The '''Shorts Blowpipe''' was a British MANPADS launcher developed by Short Brothers PLC in response to a Ministry of Defence operational requirement in 1966, with the design entering service in 1975.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The system's odd appearance with two different barrel diameters is because, rather than use pop-out fins like most MANPADS launchers, the Blowpipe has fixed fins. To avoid having soldiers carry a launcher over four feet long and almost eleven inches in diameter, the tail assembly is detached and stored in the forward part of the tube, with the missile's fuselage going through it and into the rear <del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">section</del>: during launch, the missile slides out through the tail assembly, which is then fixed in place by a heat-sensitive glue. The missile uses a soft-launch system with a two-stage rocket motor, the sustainer motor accelerating it to Mach 1.5.</div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The system's odd appearance with two different barrel diameters is because, rather than use pop-out fins like most MANPADS launchers, the Blowpipe has fixed fins. To avoid having soldiers carry a launcher over four feet long and almost eleven inches in diameter, the tail assembly is detached and stored in the forward part of the tube, with the missile's fuselage going through it and into the <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">slimmer </ins>rear <ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">tube</ins>: during launch, the missile slides out through the tail assembly, which is then fixed in place by a heat-sensitive glue. The missile uses a soft-launch system with a two-stage rocket motor, the sustainer motor accelerating it to Mach 1.5.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe uses an exceptionally strange wireless radio command guidance system. The missile starts out in a SACLOS guidance mode with the launcher tracking a beacon on the missile's tail and automatically guiding it to the sight's crosshair, but 2-3 seconds after launch this is switched to MCLOS guidance, with the operator steering the missile directly using a small thumbstick: four flares on the missile's tail with sequential igniters assist the operator in visually tracking the missile. While this system had a theoretical advantage over period IR-guided tail-chasing missiles in that it could be fired at an aircraft while it was still approaching, like all MCLOS missiles not featuring TV guidance, it was difficult to use against a moving target since the operator had to keep track of both the missile and the target at the same time: this task was difficult enough for ATGM systems, nevermind a SAM system. The missile has a range of 0.3 to 2.17 miles: on reaching maximum range, or if radio contact with the launcher is lost, the missile will self-destruct. As is normal for such systems, the missiles are provided in disposable launch tubes, which the reusable {{convert|kg|6}} sight unit is attached to prior to firing.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe uses an exceptionally strange wireless radio command guidance system. The missile starts out in a SACLOS guidance mode with the launcher tracking a beacon on the missile's tail and automatically guiding it to the sight's crosshair, but 2-3 seconds after launch this is switched to MCLOS guidance, with the operator steering the missile directly using a small thumbstick: four flares on the missile's tail with sequential igniters assist the operator in visually tracking the missile. While this system had a theoretical advantage over period IR-guided tail-chasing missiles in that it could be fired at an aircraft while it was still approaching, like all MCLOS missiles not featuring TV guidance, it was difficult to use against a moving target since the operator had to keep track of both the missile and the target at the same time: this task was difficult enough for ATGM systems, nevermind a SAM system. The missile has a range of 0.3 to 2.17 miles: on reaching maximum range, or if radio contact with the launcher is lost, the missile will self-destruct. As is normal for such systems, the missiles are provided in disposable launch tubes, which the reusable {{convert|kg|6}} sight unit is attached to prior to firing.</div></td></tr>
</table>Evil Timhttps://www.buildlogs.org/index.php?title=Shorts_Blowpipe&diff=1192883&oldid=prevEvil Tim at 14:18, 27 June 20182018-06-27T14:18:08Z<p></p>
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<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #202122; text-align: center;">Revision as of 14:18, 27 June 2018</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l5">Line 5:</td>
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<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The system's odd appearance with two different barrel diameters is because, rather than use pop-out fins like most MANPADS launchers, the Blowpipe has fixed fins. To avoid having soldiers carry a launcher over four feet long and almost eleven inches in diameter, the tail assembly is detached and stored in the forward part of the tube, with the missile's fuselage going through it and into the rear section: during launch, the missile slides out through the tail assembly, which is then fixed in place by a heat-sensitive glue. The missile uses a soft-launch system with a two-stage rocket motor, the sustainer motor accelerating it to Mach 1.5.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The system's odd appearance with two different barrel diameters is because, rather than use pop-out fins like most MANPADS launchers, the Blowpipe has fixed fins. To avoid having soldiers carry a launcher over four feet long and almost eleven inches in diameter, the tail assembly is detached and stored in the forward part of the tube, with the missile's fuselage going through it and into the rear section: during launch, the missile slides out through the tail assembly, which is then fixed in place by a heat-sensitive glue. The missile uses a soft-launch system with a two-stage rocket motor, the sustainer motor accelerating it to Mach 1.5.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe uses an exceptionally strange wireless radio command guidance system. The missile starts out in a SACLOS guidance mode with the launcher tracking a beacon on the missile's tail and automatically guiding it to the sight's crosshair, but 2-3 seconds after launch this is switched to MCLOS guidance, with the operator steering the missile directly using a small thumbstick: four flares on the missile's tail with sequential igniters assist the operator in visually tracking the missile. While this system had a theoretical advantage over period IR-guided tail-chasing missiles in that it could be fired at an aircraft while it was still approaching, like all MCLOS missiles not featuring TV guidance, it was difficult to use against a moving target since the operator had to keep track of both the missile and the target at the same time: this task <del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">that </del>was difficult enough for ATGM systems, nevermind a SAM system. The missile has a range of 0.3 to 2.17 miles: on reaching maximum range, or if radio contact with the launcher is lost, the missile will self-destruct. As is normal for such systems, the missiles are provided in disposable launch tubes, which the reusable {{convert|kg|6}} sight unit is attached to prior to firing.</div></td><td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td><td style="color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe uses an exceptionally strange wireless radio command guidance system. The missile starts out in a SACLOS guidance mode with the launcher tracking a beacon on the missile's tail and automatically guiding it to the sight's crosshair, but 2-3 seconds after launch this is switched to MCLOS guidance, with the operator steering the missile directly using a small thumbstick: four flares on the missile's tail with sequential igniters assist the operator in visually tracking the missile. While this system had a theoretical advantage over period IR-guided tail-chasing missiles in that it could be fired at an aircraft while it was still approaching, like all MCLOS missiles not featuring TV guidance, it was difficult to use against a moving target since the operator had to keep track of both the missile and the target at the same time: this task was difficult enough for ATGM systems, nevermind a SAM system. The missile has a range of 0.3 to 2.17 miles: on reaching maximum range, or if radio contact with the launcher is lost, the missile will self-destruct. As is normal for such systems, the missiles are provided in disposable launch tubes, which the reusable {{convert|kg|6}} sight unit is attached to prior to firing.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br></td></tr>
<tr><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe proved to be extremely ineffective in the Falklands War, where it was used by both sides: in spite of over a hundred Blowpipe launches (the British alone firing 96), postwar studies could only credit two kills to the system, one British Harrier and one Argentine helicopter. Royal Marine Brigadier Julian Thompson described using it as like "trying to shoot pheasants with a drainpipe." Blowpipes would later be supplied to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to similarly little effect.</div></td><td class="diff-marker"></td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>Blowpipe proved to be extremely ineffective in the Falklands War, where it was used by both sides: in spite of over a hundred Blowpipe launches (the British alone firing 96), postwar studies could only credit two kills to the system, one British Harrier and one Argentine helicopter. Royal Marine Brigadier Julian Thompson described using it as like "trying to shoot pheasants with a drainpipe." Blowpipes would later be supplied to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to similarly little effect.</div></td></tr>
</table>Evil Tim