Blowpipe was designed by Shorts and was in use with the British Army around 1978 through to about 1985 when it was finally withdrawn from service. In 1986 some of the mothballed units were secretly sent to Afghanistan to help the Mujahideen fight the Russians.

Length: 1.35 m Diameter: 76 mm Wingspan: 274 mm Weight Missile: 11 kg Complete system: 22 kg Warhead: 2.2 kg shaped charge Range: 500 m to 3.5 km Speed: Mach 1.5 (510 m/s)

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Blowpipe was used by both sides during the Falklands War in 1982. With the targets being fast flying aircraft, flying low and using the ground to hide their approach the Blowpipe teams had about 20 seconds to spot the target, align and fire the unit.

A British officer compared using the weapon to 'trying to shoot pheasants with a drainpipe.' The official report stated that of the 95 missiles fired, only 9 managed to destroy their targets and all of these were slow flying planes and helicopters. A later report indicated that only 1 kill could be attributed to Blowpipe. The poor performance led to it being withdrawn from UK service.

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25/03/06