Starstreak is a short-range, laser-guided, command-to-line-of-sight, air defense missile system developed for a British Army requirement. The missile system has numerous launcher configurations ranging from manportable through vehicle and ship-based systems. One of its unique features is its warhead that uses three individual metal darts that separate from the rest of the missile in flight. The British Army ordered 135 systems through 1994 and total missile orders to date are overrn12,000. Production began in 1993 but Starstreak has only secured one major export order, to South Africa in 2003. Short Brothers (now Thales) was teamed with Boeing to integrate the Starstreak missile with the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter for helicop-ter-vs.-helicopter combat and has agreed with Boeing to explore application of Starstreak to Boeing's Avenger system to deal with the hovering helicopter threat. In 1995, Shorts reached a new agreement on teaming with Lockheed-Martin for the helicopter role. These never reached the acquisition stage.
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