Russia Tests Igla MANPADS, Buk Missile Systems Against Combat UAVs

The Russian Ministry of Defense said it recently tested the Igla man-portable air defense system (MANPADS) against combat UAVs in conjunction with the Buk medium-range air defense missile systems.

"The crews of the Buk-M2 anti-aircraft missile system and the Igla portable anti-aircraft missile system of the 2nd Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District at a training exercise in the Orenburg region repelled more than 80 attacks of a mock enemy. According to the concept of the tactical actions, the conditional enemy periodically inflicted air strikes on the area of concentration of troops, using drones and cruise missiles,” the defense ministry said in a statement on April 10.

Altogether more than 800 servicemen and over 100 units of weapons and military equipment participated in the exercises.

In February, the Igla-S MANPADS was presented at Aero India 2021 in Bangalore and at IDEX 2021 in Abu Dhabi as part of the new integrated counter-UAV system, which can combine 'soft-kill' and 'hard-kill' means.

The developer of the Igla-S the Kolomna-based KBM in its official presentation of the system especially emphasizes its "high kill probability of such small-size targets as cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles". Target range has been increased to 6.0 km due to improved missile aerodynamics and a proportional actuator, the night-fire capability with a night sight has been added.

In August 2020, Dmitry Shugaev, head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC), in an interview to Zvezda channel mentioned the planned sale of the Igla-S to India. “I hope that in the near future an agreement will be signed on the production and supply of Igla-S in the interests of India, especially since we have won the tender unconditionally," Shugaev said.