Russian Troops to Receive first of Gibka-S VSHORAD Systems in 2022

Russian troops will start receiving the country’s first Very Short-Range Air Defense (VSHORAD) system, the Gibka-S, next year.

"For the first time, air defense units will get sets of Gibka-S combat vehicles next year," Commander of the Russian Armed Forces’ tactical air defense Lieutenant General Alexander Leonov said in an interview with defense ministry’s Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper Friday.

Serial production of Gibka-S began this month.

Gibka-S is the first vehicle-mounted SHORAD/VSHORAD system produced in Russia. It passed state trials back in 2019. It is armed with four Igla, Igla-S or Verba missiles. The system can successfully counter planes, helicopters, drones, cruise missiles and high-precision weapons flying at low and extremely low altitudes, at any time of the day and in limited visibility. It is mounted on the wheeled chassis of the Tigr-M armored vehicle.

During trials at the Kapustin Yar testing range in southern Russia in late 2019, Gibka-S proved its effectiveness against aerial targets while moving at the speed of up to 30 kmph.