Russia To Showcase ‘Verba’ Air Defense MANPADS At DefExpo 2016

Rosoboronexport will showcase newest Russian-made man-portable air defence missile system (MANPADS) “Verba” at DEFEXPO-2016 land and naval systems exhibition in South Goa India from 28 to 31 March.

At present the Verba MANPADS is entering into service with the Russian Army, and its first appearance abroad will take place at the “DEFEXPO India – 2016,” the company said in a statement Tuesday.

“We are confident that the Verba will provoke interest of Indian militaries and our partners in South East Asia and other regions,” Sergei Goreslavsky, deputy director general of JSC Rosoboronexport said.

“It should be noted here that the demand for the Igla-S MANPADS, which is a predecessor to the Verba, is expected to remain at the same level since it satisfies the requirements of armies in many countries,” Goreslavsky said.

Anti-air combat performance of Verba MANPADS has improved due to a new tri-band optical homer into the 9M336 missile as well as new instruments and a warhead featuring an adaptive contact/proximity fuze and increased-weight explosive.

The MANPADS boasts of enhanced capability of engaging small-size targets with low thermal signatures such as cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

The Verba MANPADS can be also mounted on various land, maritime and airborne platforms.  Joint employment of the 9M336 missiles of the Verba MANPADS, combat control set of equipment and launch modules makes it possible to build on their basis light-weight mobile close-in air defence missile systems, or to include these assets into existing air defence missile and artillery systems. Optional deployment of the MANPADS combat assets on various carriers allows salvo launching of missiles, which enhances target kill probability by 1.5 times.

The MANPADS is designed and manufactured by the KBM Scientific Production Concern.