India To Soon Take Delivery Of Russian Man-Portable Igla-S Air Defence Systems

The Indian Army is set to receive another batch of Russian-made man-portable Igla-S very short-range air defence systems (VSHORADs) by the end of May or early June.

Man-portable VSHORADs like Igla-S and American Stinger are shoulder-fired missiles that can be used to shoot down low-flying helicopters, fighter jets, drones, and cruise missiles. They are the last line of defence for any army, forcing attackers to fly high above the ground, making them visible to long-range air-defence radar.

The Russian Air Force and Army helicopters and fighter jets suffered heavily from the use of American Stinger VSHORADs by Ukrainian forces in the Russia-Ukraine war.

These Stinger missiles were also used by the Pakistani Army against Indian helicopters and jets in the Kargil war. American-supported Afghan Taliban ‘Mujahideen’ used these Stinger missiles quite effectively against Soviet forces in the 80s and 90s.

This delivery is being conducted under a contract signed by the Indian Army in November 2023 utilising the emergency powers granted to the vice chiefs of all the services.

The contract was worth Rs 260 crore, under which 48 launchers, 48 night sights, and 100 Igla-S missiles will be procured. This is the second batch of the contract. The first batch was delivered last month in April.

This is the second time the Indian Army has imported Igla-S missiles using emergency powers. In 2020, another deal was signed to supply 24 launchers, 216 missiles, and testing equipment. These were delivered in 2021.

India already operates the Igla-1M, an older variant of the Igla-S missile.

India has a larger requirement of over 5,000 missiles and 258 single and 258 multi-launchers for which India issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) in 2010.

Igla-S was selected over the French Mistral and Swedish RBS-70.

However, this contract was never signed due to allegations of irregularities in the selection, leaving India to make do with the older Igla-1M missiles.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is also working on developing a man-portable VSHORAD which has gone through multiple rounds of testing. Around 300 launchers and 1,800 of these missiles worth Rs 1,900 crores will be bought.

The rest of the requirements will be fulfilled by procuring a laser-beam riding man-portable VSHORAD under the Make-2 of the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP). Under Make-2, the cost of prototype development and testing is borne by the industry for import substitution.

In 2021, Thales and BDL signed an agreement to manufacture these missiles in India.