picture 204979

Introduced to operational service in the mid-1970s, the 9K31 Strela 1M (ASCC/NATO-codename ‘SA-9 Gaskin’) self-propelled air defence missile system saw widespread service with armoured formations of the Yugoslav National Army. It consisted of the hull of the BRDM-2 armoured reconnaissance car, with a small turret and pedestal carrying four missile containers that acted as launchers. Each Serbian Army brigade had a battery of four in its Light Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment. As of 1999, the example shown here, registration 22343, was operated by the 211th Armoured Brigade, home-based in Nis. (Artwork by David Bocquelet)