The Indian Army has received the first batch of 24 Russia-made Igla-S Man Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS), along with 100 missiles, as part of a larger deal which will see the rest being made in India.

India Receives Fresh Batch Of Igla-S Air Defence System From Russia

The Indian Army has received the first batch of 24 Russia-made Igla-S Man Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS), along with 100 missiles, as part of a larger deal which will see the rest being made in India. The system is being procured to shore up Indian Army’s Very Short Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) capabilities.

Sources in the defence establishment said that while the Army did induct a very small number (24 launchers and 216 missiles) of Igla-S as part of emergency procurement in 2021, this is a larger order. MANPADS are portable surface-to-air missile systems and air defence units in high mountainous regions use MANPADS to neutralise low-altitude aerial threats such as aircraft, drones, and missiles.

The Request for Proposal (RFP) for VSHORADs was issued in 2010 under the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, after which the selection process began. Later in 2018, Russia’s Rosoboronexport-manufactured Igla-S won a competitive bid as the lowest bidder (L1) over France’s MBDA-manufactured infrared homing short-range air defence system Mistral and Sweden’s SAAB-manufactured RBS 70 NG.

In February this year, the DRDO conducted two flight tests of indigenous VSHORADS missiles from a ground-based portable launcher.