page_title: Surface-to-air missile
section_title: Target acquisition
hierarchical_section_title: Surface-to-air missile / General information / Target acquisition
caption_attribution_description: English: JASDF_Type91_SAM. 6/16/2008 - Staff Sgt. Masayuki Inomata operates a Type 91 Sam-2 Surface to Air missile launcher at enemy aircraft while his teammate Staff Sgt. Hiroshi Yamashita locates the target on the Pacific Alaskan Range Complex June 11, 2008 during RED FLAG-Alaska 08-3. During this exercise Japanese Forces are positioned in varies locations acting as a threat to blue forces aircraft. Both are missile operators assigned to the Japanese Air Self Defense Force. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Airman 1st Class Jonathan Snyder)
context_page_description: A surface-to-air missile, also known as a ground-to-air missile or surface-to-air guided weapon, is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft system; in modern armed forces, missiles have replaced most other forms of dedicated anti-aircraft weapons, with anti-aircraft guns pushed into specialized roles.
  The first serious attempts at SAM development took place during World War II, although no operational systems were introduced. Further development in the 1940s and 1950s led to operational systems being introduced by most major forces during the second half of the 1950s. Smaller systems, suitable for close-range work, evolved through the 1960s and 1970s, to modern systems that are man-portable. Shipborne systems followed the evolution of land-based models, starting with long-range weapons and steadily evolving toward smaller designs to provide a layered defence. This evolution of design increasingly pushed gun-based systems into the shortest-range roles.
  The American Nike Ajax was the first operational guided missile SAM system, and the Soviet Union's S-75 Dvina was the most-produced SAM.
context_section_description: Long-range systems generally use radar systems for target detection, and depending on the generation of system, may "hand off" to a separate tracking radar for attack. Short range systems are more likely to be entirely visual for detection.
  Hybrid systems are also common. The MIM-72 Chaparral was fired optically, but normally operated with a short range early warning radar that displayed targets to the operator. This radar, the FAAR, was taken into the field with a Gama Goat and set up behind the lines. Information was passed to the Chaparral via a data link. Likewise, the UK's Rapier system included a simple radar that displayed the rough direction of a target on a series of lamps arranged in a circle. The missile operator would point his telescope in that rough direction and then hunt for the target visually.
caption: A JASDF soldier uses the optical sight on the Type 91 Kai MANPADS to acquire a mock airborne target. The prominent vertical metal devices on the left are the IFF antennas.
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