After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on February 24, 2022, western countries led by the United States showed unprecedented "generosity", paying for guns and exporting grain, and supporting Ukraine and Russia in a head-on confrontation.
In the initial stages of the "aid campaign", Germany, the leader of the European Union, was more cautious, not directly providing lethal weapons, but giving Ukrainians 5,000 helmets and a mobile field hospital worth 5.3 million euros to save lives and heal their wounds, so that the Ukrainians ridiculed: "What will be sent next?" Pillows? ”
■ Germany's initial military assistance to Ukraine was limited to non-lethal protective equipment such as helmets.
Under the pressure of all parties, Germany finally took out some hard goods, announced the assistance to Ukraine 1,000 "Iron Fist-3" anti-tank rockets and 500 "Stinger" anti-aircraft missiles, and then on March 3, the media broke the news that Germany will give away 2,700 anti-aircraft missiles from Ukraine for free, the number is quite considerable, which makes people lament the generosity of the Germans, to know that the price of a single air defense missile is at least more than 100,000 US dollars, taking the "Stinger" missile as an example, only the missile itself reached 120,000 US dollars, Including the more expensive launch control devices, the missiles are estimated to be at least $300 million or more at the line price.
However, it is surprising to look closely at the news content, because these 2700 missiles are not the active equipment of the German army, but the legacy of the East German People's Army during the Cold War, which has been dusted in the warehouse for more than 30 years in the warehouse of the former Soviet Union "Arrow-2" man-portable air defense missiles!
■ German media reports on aid to Ukraine's 2,700 Arrow missiles.
The "Arrow-2" anti-aircraft missile is the first generation of portable shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles developed by the former Soviet Union in the 1960s, Soviet number 9K32, NATO code name SA-7, nicknamed "Holy Grail", entered service in 1968, can be carried by individual soldiers or launched on board, using infrared guidance, with the ability to "launch after firing", with a maximum speed of Mach 1.26, mainly against low-altitude targets with a flight altitude of less than 1500 meters and a range of less than 3700 meters, and the subsequent improved "Arrow-2m" The speed was increased to Mach 1.47, and the maximum firing height and maximum range were increased to 2300 meters and 4200 meters, but as an early man-portable anti-aircraft missile, its technical level was comparable to that of the American FIM-43 "Red Eye" anti-aircraft missile.
■ The Arrow-2 anti-aircraft missile is the first generation of portable man-portable air defense missiles of the former Soviet Union, NATO code name SA-7, nicknamed "Holy Grail".
After the advent of the "Arrow-2" missile, in addition to equipping the Soviet army, it also provided a large amount of assistance to the Warsaw Pact allies and third world countries, participated in many wars and armed conflicts during the Cold War and after the Cold War, and was the most widely equipped and used individual air defense missile in the world.
East Germany, as an important member of the Warsaw Pact organization and the vanguard of the Iron Curtain confrontation, naturally also obtained this missile from the Soviet Union, and the "Arrow-2" missile in stock after german reunification in 1990 was also inherited by the Bundeswehr. As the remaining material was sealed, according to the time of equipment, this batch of missiles is at least 40 years away from the factory time!
■ Soldiers of the East German People's Army operating the Arrow-2 anti-aircraft missile.
As soon as the news came out, the long-circulated "German oil-paper package myth" reappeared in the online world, which seemed to be another German quality and durable proof! Netizens have ridiculed the Germans as "clearing inventory".
However, to be sure, can these missiles, which have been in doubt for many years, really still work? The truth is a shame, and the long years are enough to make these missiles decay.
■ During the Cold War, a Soviet soldier instructed his East German comrades in the use of the Arrow-2 anti-aircraft missile.
First of all, the anti-aircraft missile belongs to high-tech weapons, "Arrow-2" although the size of the light, but is a sparrow, although small, complete, its complexity is not less than the larger missile, or even more sophisticated, many key electronic components inside, such as lead sulfide infrared seeker and battery, etc., the storage environment requirements are extremely high, must be at constant temperature and humidity environment to be able to preserve for a long time, by no means a layer of German oil paper can meet, and the Soviet electronic products of the 60s and 70s of the last century itself have poor process and short life, Whether it will work properly after years of time is really doubtful.
■ From this close-up photo, you can observe the infrared guide head of the "Arrow-2", which is a very precise and fragile key element.
Secondly, in addition to sensitive electronic components, the "Arrow-2" missile body and launcher use a lot of rust-prone metal materials and metal parts, a layer of oil paper is obviously difficult to resist the accumulation of erosion in a humid environment, resulting in rust, which not only means that the strength of the projectile body decreases, making it difficult to withstand the overload of violent maneuvering, but also adhesions between the mechanical structures in the projectile body, such as the wing rudder surface control mechanism, resulting in flight control failure. In addition, the chemical reaction caused by rust will also affect the nature of explosives, fuels and other fireworks in contact with metal materials, causing them to change to failure, and even spontaneous combustion and self-explosion.
■ A poorly maintained and scrapped "Arrow-2" missile can be seen that the exterior and internal components of the launch canister are rusty.
Third, the explosives inside the missile, such as explosives in the warhead and the fuel in the engine and booster, will change over long-term storage. Relatively speaking, fuzes and explosives have lower requirements for the storage environment, but rocket fuel is very delicate and has higher requirements for storage conditions. The "Arrow-2" missile uses a solid fuel rocket engine propulsion, its fuel is poured and formed, when the preservation is not good, it will cause cracks or even breaks due to vibration, moisture, drying and other reasons, and it will also change the chemical properties because of seal failure and contact with air, resulting in instability in the working state of the engine and affecting the flight capability of the missile.
■ A cross-sectional model of the Arrow-2 missile displayed in the museum, in which the red part is the warhead and the yellow part is the rocket solid fuel.
Finally, the sealing material of the missile will also age and deteriorate, losing its protective role. Usually the seal of the missile relies on rubber and coatings, in the natural environment rubber products usually 3 to 5 years will age, even if the special rubber with anti-aging components added its life will not exceed 20 years, and once the seal fails, it means that the precision components and chemicals in the projectile will lose stable storage conditions, and uncontrollable qualitative changes will occur. Even if such a missile can be launched, I am afraid that it will only fly out of control and be unusable.
■ The sealing cover of the "Arrow-2" missile launcher is made of rubber, which is easy to age after long-term preservation.
Some argue that the German spirit of "oil-paper wrapping" will reduce the occurrence of the above and extend the shelf life. So let's ask rhetorically, is it necessary for the Germans to carefully preserve these missiles? After german reunification, a large number of weapons and equipment of the former East German People's Army, including fighters, warships, tanks, etc., were mostly sold or even sent for free, because these Soviet-style weapons were not compatible with the Western-style system of the Bundeswehr, and the German army equipped with American "Stinger" missiles did not look at the backward SAM-7, but only feared that the flow into the hands of terrorists would pose a huge threat to the civil aviation industry and sealed them.
■ MiG-29 fighters of the Polish Air Force, in 2004 Germany sold 22 MiG-29s of the former East German Air Force to Poland for 1 euro.
After the end of the Cold War, Germany's armaments were abolished, its armaments were drastically reduced, and its defense budget was cut, not only the number of equipment was drastically reduced, but the appropriate rate of existing equipment was also surprisingly low, and less than half of the equipment was in a state of readiness, such as the existing 220 "Leopard 2" tanks, the proper rate was only 46%, and only 12 of the 62 "Tiger" helicopter gunships were available. Even the equipment in active service is so poorly maintained, why do the Germans have to pay special attention to this batch of old Soviet missiles that are already outdated and surplus? According to reports, the wooden box for storing missiles has been moldy several years ago, which shows that the German army is not bothered about its storage at all, so these 2700 old missiles are just propaganda gimmicks, far less practical than the 500 "stingers" provided by Germany.
■ In 2017, von der Leyen, then German Defense Minister, inspected the troops, and the negative news of the Bundeswehr after the Cold War continued.