Russia Announces Deployment of its First Self-Propelled VSHORAD

In a rising trend of firing man-portable missiles from surface vehicles, Russia has armed itself with its first vehicle-mounted VSHORAD system – Gibka-S, which fires Verba or Igla-S MANPADS missiles.

The Russian MoD has announced the successful finishing of the development of the system.

The Gibka-S is armed with four Verba or Igla-S missiles – 4 are kept on a launcher, while 4 are in a stowage. 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 2019, Gibka-S proved its effectiveness against aerial targets while moving at the speed of up to 30 kmph. The deployment time is not more than 3 minutes.

"As part of the completed Gibka-S R&D work, a platoon commander's reconnaissance and control vehicle (MRU K 9S9Z7) and an anti-aircraft gunners squad combat vehicle (9A332) were developed. The ammunition load of the combat vehicle is eight anti-aircraft guided Igla-S or Verba MANPADS missiles, four of which are kept ready for launch on the rails of the launcher. This year, for the first time, the first delivery of this type of combat vehicles was carried out,” said Lieutenant-General Alexander Leonov, the Chief of the Army Air Defense of the Russian Armed Forces, in an interview with the MoD's Red Star newspaper.

He also commended the “successes” of Verba and Igla MANPADS systems during the Russian special military operation in Ukraine.

"In the defeat of suddenly appearing air targets at low and extremely low altitudes at the forefront, Igla and Verba MANPADS have proven themselves well, and they account for a third of the destroyed manned aircraft of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Often, the shelling of manned aircraft with MANPADS missiles, even in the event of a miss, leads to the pilot's refusal to perform a combat mission, and, consequently, to maintaining the combat capability of the covered units,” said Alexander Leonov.

MANPAD systems are normally meant for infantry use but take time in setting and pointing at the target while also restricting firing to one at a time. The Gibka-S looks like a ready solution to this problem by mounting multiple MANPAD firing units on top of a vehicle. It is effective even against ultra-low flying targets.

The Gibka-S has been designed by the KBM (Kolomna Mechanical Engineering Design Bureau), which is also the developer and producer of Iskander, Igla and Verba missile systems. According to the official presentation, the maximum automation of combat operation is achieved, and the system can be used autonomously or under control of command posts.

Gibka-S system can be used as part of the multi-layered system for defense against UAVs which Russia is proposing at the global market. It can serve as the last-ditch’ air defense along with Verba or Igla-S MANPADS. Therefore, Russia introduces the Gibka-S VSHORAD along with proposing these MANPADs to foreign countries.