Russia has inked a deal to supply Igla-S hand-held anti-aircraft missiles to India and grant authorization for the localized production of Igla-S in the country, reported the Russian state news agency TASS on Tuesday.
The Igla-S, a man-portable air defense system (MANPADS), capable of individual or crew-fired deployment to neutralize enemy aircraft, is at the center of this agreement. Alexander Mikheyev, the head of the state arms exporter Rosoboronexport, stated, "We have already signed the corresponding document and now, together with an Indian private company, we are organizing the production of Igla-S MANPADS in India."
Defense News reports that the potential value of the deal could reach $1.5 billion. Under the VSHORAD (Very Short Range Air Defense) program, India is strategizing the replacement of outdated Soviet-Russian Igla systems with state-of-the-art Igla-S MANPADS. The procurement plan includes the purchase of 5,175 missiles and launchers. Exclusively sourced from Russia, various versions of the Igla-S will be supplied, and a portion of the deal involves the production of 600 missiles at the Indian state enterprise Bharat Dynamics Ltd.
India, recognized as the world's largest arms importer, continues to rely on Russia as its principal supplier, despite concerns stemming from the conflict in Ukraine. Russia, enduring setbacks in the face of a smaller yet well-equipped Western military, accounted for 45% of India's arms imports between 2018 and 2022, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). France and the United States contributed 29% and 11%, respectively.
Mikheyev, as reported by RIA, previously noted that "Rosoboronexport is working with Indian private and public enterprises to organize joint production of aviation weapons and integrate them into the existing aviation fleet in India." Specifics regarding the involved Indian companies or the commencement of potential production were not disclosed.
Rosoboronexport and its Indian partners have previously supplied the Indian Ministry of Defence with Su-30MKI fighter jets, tanks, armored vehicles, shells, and, at the beginning of the year, commenced joint production of AK-203 Kalashnikov assault rifles.
Details of "Igla-S" Man-portable air defense missile system
Compactness. Mobility. Convenience of combat application.
Implementation of the "fire-and-forget" principle, high survivability, and stealth of combat operation.
The high universality of the system allows you to launch missiles using:
►launching mechanism;
►"Dzhigit" support launcher;
►"Strelets" set of equipment and launch modules (allow launching missiles from various mobile carriers);
►"Komar" turret installation;
►"Gibka-S" combat vehicle for the MANPADS squad.
"Igla-S" man-portable air defense missile system is designed to engage all types of visible fixed- and rotary-winged aircraft on head-on and pursuit courses as well as small-sized air targets like cruise missiles around the clock under thermal and background noise.
Main characteristics
Range 500 to 6000 m
Altitude 10 to 3500 m
Target speed:
head-onup to 400 m/s
pursuitup to 400 m/s
Ready for operation on a signal while on the march 12 seconds
Ready for launch after activation 5 seconds
Missile features: tracing, passive, infrared bi-spectral seeker
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