"Low-altitude killer" strikes, fighter jets show their skills to dodge missilesSince the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Western countries led by the United States have provided Ukraine with a large number of weapons and equipment, including the world's mainstream portable air defense missiles such as "Stinger", "Starlight" and "Thunder". According to foreign media reports, as of now, these "low-altitude killers" have shot down dozens of military aircraft in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. So, what are the unique advantages of portable air defense missiles? Faced with unexpected and unpredictable portable air defense missiles, what solutions do countries around the world have to crack them?Unexpectedly, small and bigPortable air defense missiles are the smallest, lightest, shortest range and smallest shooting height in the family of surface-to-air missiles. The main targets are low-altitude and ultra-low-altitude fighters, armed helicopters, drones and other targets.Although this missile is small and low-cost, its combat effectiveness is not bad, especially in local wars and regional conflicts. It is known as a "low-altitude killer" and "helicopter nemesis". This missile effectively fills the gap between the range of anti-aircraft artillery and large and medium-sized anti-aircraft missiles, and is a typical "simple but not simple" weapon.In 1958, the United States developed the world's first portable air defense missile-"Red Eye". The missile uses an infrared seeker to capture the infrared characteristics of the aircraft's tail nozzle, track and destroy the target. In the following 60 years, the United States, Russia, Britain, France and other countries have successively developed dozens of portable air defense missiles, and have achieved outstanding results in actual combat, becoming the world's largest-selling air defense missile in the military trade market.Up to now, among the air defense missiles developed and produced by countries around the world, the number of portable air defense missiles accounts for more than half. The more famous ones include the United States' "Stinger", the United Kingdom's "Starlight" and Russia's "Needle-S"."Stinger" is a portable air defense missile developed by the United States in the 1970s with a range of more than 5 kilometers. With its excellent performance, the missile has been selling well in the international arms sales market for decades, and it is still "old", with a production volume of more than 70,000.Since the United States provided Ukraine with a large number of Stinger missiles in this Russia-Ukraine conflict, in order to replenish its inventory, the U.S. Army signed a contract with Raytheon on May 25 to purchase 1,468 Stinger missiles, worth $687 million."Starlight" is a portable air defense missile developed by Thales Air Defense Systems in the UK in the 1980s. It has a maximum range of 7 kilometers and a flight speed of 4 times the speed of sound. It is currently the fastest portable air defense missile in the world. The unique feature of this missile is that it is equipped with three warheads, which can fly to the target to be hit separately or together after launch."Needle-S" is the most advanced portable air defense missile in active service in Russia. It was developed by the Russian Mechanical Design Bureau with a maximum range of 6 kilometers and a maximum firing height of 3.5 kilometers.In addition to using optical sights and infrared guidance modes, the missile is also equipped with a movable night vision device, which can be used for night operations. It is currently an important weapon for Russian single-soldier combat.Drive away and resist the enemy, make up for the weak and resist destructionThe vast majority of cases where portable air defense missiles successfully shot down aircraft are mainly concentrated in low-altitude airspace below 2 kilometers.For aircraft, the airspace below 2 kilometers is a high-risk area, which mainly exists during takeoff and landing or airdrop missions. At this time, the aircraft is flying at a low altitude, slow speed, and the infrared characteristics of the engine are significant, making it an important target for portable air defense missiles. Therefore, countries around the world have been seeking effective measures for military aircraft to deal with portable air defense missiles to improve battlefield survivability.Portable air defense missiles are mainly launched by a single soldier on the shoulder. Most of them have a range of about 5 kilometers and a shooting height of about 3 kilometers. The weight of the whole system generally does not exceed 10 kilograms.As the saying goes: Success is due to Xiao He, and failure is also due to Xiao He. The various performance indicators that portable air defense missiles are proud of have become an important basis for countries around the world to study countermeasures.Special forces often hide near airports or key areas, using trees and buildings as cover, waiting for an opportunity to launch portable air defense missiles. At this time, the land-based air defense system can come in handy. By establishing a ground control system, the ground around the airport is controlled, and the enemy attackers are driven away to a certain range outside the airport, so that the portable air defense missiles in their hands cannot hit the aircraft.The Soviet Air Force suffered a lot from portable air defense missiles on the battlefield in Afghanistan, and therefore developed a unique skill - "Afghan Landing Method", the purpose of which is to shorten the time the aircraft flies in low-altitude airspace and avoid potential portable air defense missile attacks.When performing ground attack missions, helicopters will quickly evacuate dangerous airspace after launching rockets at enemy positions to avoid attacks from portable air defense missiles. If in danger, infrared decoy bombs will also be launched to provide a second line of defense for the helicopter.In addition, the iron must be hard itself. Military aircraft avoid the situation of "one hit and it is destroyed" by enhancing the body's damage resistance. The US A-10 attack aircraft is equipped with heavy armor such as a titanium alloy cockpit, which can ensure the safety of the pilot to a certain extent after the aircraft is hit by a missile, and has the ability to drive the aircraft back to the base.Take multiple measures to combine attack and defense"Warning" means installing a missile attack warning device. At present, countries generally install missile warning systems on combat aircraft, which can detect incoming missiles hundreds of meters away.Since the range and altitude of portable air defense missiles are limited, pilots can accelerate or rise quickly to get rid of the maximum range of incoming missiles. Of course, pilots can also use large maneuvering tactical actions such as "cobra", "falling leaves" and "drums" to force the missile body to be overloaded, and the turning angular velocity is limited and cannot continue to track the aircraft."Disturbance" means to interfere with incoming missiles. After the missile warning system detects the incoming missile, the airborne defense system immediately starts the infrared jammer to interfere with the infrared seeker of the incoming missile, or launches tracer bullets, infrared decoy bullets, etc. to induce the missile to deviate from the target. Among them, infrared decoy bullets aim to "hide the truth" and "show the false", play a role of confusion and interference, and can be regarded as the most cost-effective and widely used means of confrontation."Destruction" means launching interceptor missiles or lasers to destroy incoming missiles. The United States, Israel and other countries are actively developing airborne laser weapons with the goal of "destruction" to intercept air defense missiles.Laser weapons have extremely fast attack speeds, high firing frequencies, and very flexible direction changes, which can almost achieve "discovery and destruction". In June 2021, Israel completed the test of the airborne high-energy laser system demonstration prototype and successfully destroyed unmanned target aircraft and aerial targets. However, it must be noted that due to current technology, this weapon is still some time away from large-scale equipment."Block" means the "loyal wingman" solution. The stage where portable air defense missiles pose the greatest threat to aircraft is the take-off and landing stage, so the aircraft can be equipped with several helicopters or drones for escort during this stage. The latter acts as a "knife-carrying guard" to undertake ground search and suppression, and even perform the task of "sacrificing oneself to block the gun hole" at a critical moment to block fatal attacks for high-value aircraft.In short, air strikes and air defense are like a pair of "twin brothers". They have been galloping on the war stage since the First World War, restraining each other and developing together. The "game" of mutual rise and fall and pursuit between military aircraft and portable air defense missiles will continue, and its future development direction deserves attention and in-depth research from all countries.