9K38 Igla

The development of the Igla short-range man-portable air defense system (MANPADS) began in the Kolomna OKB in 1972. Contrary to what is commonly reported, the Igla is not an improved version of the earlier Strela family (Strela-2 and Strela-3), but an all new project.^{[citation needed]} The main goals were to create a missile with better resistance to countermeasures and wider engagement envelope than the earlier Strela series MANPADS systems.

Technical difficulties in the development quickly made it obvious that the development would take far longer than anticipated, however, and in 1978 the program split in two: while the development of the full-capability Igla would continue, a simplified version (Igla-1) with a simpler IR seeker based on that of the earlier Strela-3 would be developed to enter service earlier than the full-capability version could be finished.

The 9K310 Igla-1 system and its 9M313 missile were accepted into service in the Soviet army on 11 March 1981. The main differences from the Strela-3 included an optional Identification Friend or Foe system to prevent firing on friendly aircraft, an automatic lead and super elevation to simplify shooting and reduce minimum firing range, a slightly larger rocket, reduced drag and better guidance system extend maximum range and improve performance against fast and maneuverable targets, an improved lethality on target achieved by a combination of delayed impact fuzing, terminal maneuver to hit the fuselage rather than jet nozzle, an additional charge to set off the remaining rocket fuel (if any) on impact, an improved resistance to infrared countermeasures (both decoy flares and ALQ-144 series jamming emitters), and slightly improved seeker sensitivity.

The seeker has two detectors - a cooled MWIR InSb detector for detection of the target and uncooled PbS SWIR detector for detection of IR decoys (flares). The built-in logic determines whether the detected object is a target or a decoy. The latest version (Igla-S) is reported to have additional detectors around the main seeker to provide further resistance against pulsed IRCM devices commonly used on helicopters.

The 9M313 missile features an aerospike mounted on a tripod (Igla's 9M39 missile has aerospike attached directly to the seeker dome), which reduces a shock wave, thus providing less dome heating and greater range. The name Igla is derived from these devices.

Like many other MANPADS, Igla-1 and Igla feature so-called rolling airframe missiles. These missiles roll in flight (900 - 1200 rpm) so steering the missile requires just a single pair of control surfaces, unlike roll-stabilized missiles, which require separate control surfaces for pitch and yaw. Both 9M313 and 9M39 missiles contain a gas generator, which drives a small gas turbine to provide electrical power, and the pistons, which move the canards used to steer the missile in a bang-bang mode. In addition to that, two exhaust tubes of the gas generator are placed perpendicular to the steering canards to provide maneuverability immediately after launch when the missile airspeed is too low for canards to be effective. Later versions of Igla are reported to use proportional control to drive the canards, which enables greater precision and less oscillation of the flightpath.

According to the manufacturer, South African tests have shown^{[citation needed]} the Igla's superiority over the contemporary (1982 service entry) but smaller and lighter American FIM-92A Stinger missile. However, other tests in Croatia did not support^{[citation needed]} any clear superiority, but effectively equal seeker performance and only marginally shorter time of flight and longer range for the Igla.

According to Kolomna OKB, ^{[citation needed]} the Igla-1 has a P_k (probability of kill) of 0.30 to 0.48 against unprotected targets which is reduced to 0.24 in the presence of decoy flares and jamming. In another report, the manufacturer claimed ^{[citation needed]} a P_k of 0.59 against an approaching and 0.44 against receding F-4 Phantom II fighter not employing infrared countermeasures or evasive maneuvers.

The full-capability 9K38 Igla with its 9M39 missile was finally accepted into service in the Soviet Army in 1983. The main improvements over the Igla-1 included much improved resistance against flares and jamming, a more sensitive seeker, expanding forward-hemisphere engagement capability to include straight-approaching fighters (all-aspect capability) under favourable circumstances, a slightly longer range, a higher-impulse, shorter-burning rocket with higher peak velocity (but approximately same time of flight to maximum range).

The naval variant of 9K38 Igla has the NATO reporting name SA-N-10 Grouse.

The Igla–1M missile consists of a Ground Power Supply Source (GPSS), Launching Tube, Launching Mechanism & Missile (9M 313-1).

The Igla is being replaced in Russian service by the 9K333 Verba (Willow) MANPADS. The Verba's primary feature is its multispectral optical seeker, using three sensors as opposed to the Igla-S' two. Cross-checking sensors against one another better discriminates between relevant targets and decoys, and decreases the chance of disruption from countermeasures, including lasers that attempt to blind missiles.^[5]

The first combat use of the Igla-1E was during the Gulf War. On January 17, 1991, a Panavia Tornado bomber of the Royal Air Force was shot down by an Iraqi MANPADS that may have been an Igla-1E (or Strela-3) after an unsuccessful bombing mission.^[6]

In addition, an Igla-1E shot down an American F-16 on 27 February 1991 and it's uncertain if the AC-130H lost was hit by a 'Strela' missile or a more recent Igla (Iraq at the time had both SA-7, SA-14 and SA-16 missiles, according to the SIPRI database). The pilot was captured.^[7][8]

Private intelligence company Stratfor asserts that Igla-1E missiles were used in the 1994 shoot down of a Rwandan government flight, killing the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi and sparking the Rwandan Genocide.^[9]

During the Cenepa War between Ecuador and Peru, both the Ecuadorian Army and the Peruvian Army (which had 90 functioning firing units) utilized Igla-1E missiles against aircraft and helicopters.

A Peruvian Air Force Mi-25 attack helicopter was shot down on February 7, 1995 around Base del Sur, killing the 3 crewmen, while an Ecuadorian Air Force A-37 Dragonfly was hit but managed to land on February 11. Hits on additional Ecuadorian aircraft were claimed but could not be confirmed.^[10]

During Operation Deliberate Force, on August 30, 1995; a French Mirage 2000D was shot down over Pale by an Igla fired by air defence units of the Army of Republika Srpska.^[11] The pilots, Lt. Jose-Manuel Souvignet (pilot) and Capt. Frederic Chiffot (back-seater), were captured and freed in December 1995.^[12]

The 2002 Khankala Mi-26 crash occurred on August 19, 2002 when a team of Chechen separatists brought down a Russian Mil Mi-26 helicopter in a minefield with an Igla; this resulted in the death of 127 Russian soldiers in the greatest loss of life in the history of helicopter aviation. It was also the most deadly aviation disaster ever suffered by the Russian armed forces,^[13] as well as their worst loss of life in a single day since 1999.^[14]

On January 25, 2013, the militant group Ansar Bait al-Maqdis shot down an Egyptian Mi-17 over the northern Sinai peninsula using a suspected Igla-1E or Igla. How the group came to obtain the weapon is currently unknown.^[15]

On 23 March 2015, a Libya Dawn-operated MiG-23UB was shot down with an Igla-S (reportedly a truck-mounted Strelets variant) while bombing Al Watiya airbase (near Zintan), controlled by forces from the internationally recognized Council of Deputies. Both pilots were killed.^[16][17]

Video has surfaced showing rebels using an Igla-1E on a Syrian government helicopter. Such weapons were believed to have been looted from a Syrian army base in Aleppo in February 2013. In 2014, a member of the rebel group Harakat Hazm was filmed aiming an Igla-1E into the air on the same day that the group was filmed operating BGM-71 TOW missiles.^[18] Whether these weapons were raided from regime stockpiles or supplied via overseas is unknown.^[19]

On June 14, 2014, rebel forces near Luhansk International Airport in Eastern Ukraine shot down an IL-76 of the Ukrainian Airforce probably using an Igla MANPADS, killing all 49 Ukrainian service personnel on board.^[20]

On 12 November 2014, Azerbaijani forces shot down an Armenian Army Mi-24 of a formation of two which were flying near the Azerbaijani border. All three on board died when the helicopter crashed while flying at low altitude and was hit by an Igla-S MANPADS fired by Azerbaijani soldiers.^[21][22][23]

On May 13, 2016, PKK militants shot down a Turkish Army Bell AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopter using 9K38 Igla (SA-18 Grouse) version of this missile system. The missile severed the tail section from the rest of the helicopter, causing it to fragment in midair and crash, killing the two pilots on board. The Turkish government first claimed that it fell due to technical failure then it became obvious that it was shot down'.^[24]

Several variants of the Igla were developed for specific applications:

Igla-1E

Export version.

Igla-1M

Improved version of 9K38 Igla. Entered service in Soviet Military during the late 1980s.

Igla-1D

A version for paratroopers and special forces.

Igla-1V

Air-launched version, mainly for combat helicopters.

Igla-1N

A version with heavier warhead at the cost of a slight reduction in range and speed.

Igla-1A

Export version?

Igla-S (SA-24 Grinch)

The newest variant, which is a substantially improved variant with longer range, more sensitive seeker, improved resistance to latest countermeasures, and a heavier warhead. Manufacturer reports hit probability of 0.8-0.9.^[25] State tests were completed in December 2001 and the system entered service in 2002. Series produced by the Degtryaev plant since December 1, 2004.^[2][26]

Strelets Igla-S / Igla

The Strelets is designed for remote automated firing of the Igla and Igla-S surface-to-air missile by single shot, ripple or in salvo.

3M47

A turret for ships that is equipped with Igla missiles.^[27]

Komar

Another turret for ships that is equipped with Igla missiles.^[28]

On August 12, 2003, as a result of a sting operation arranged as a result of cooperation between the American, British and Russian intelligence agencies, Hemant Lakhani, a British national, was intercepted attempting to bring what he had thought was an older-generation Igla into the USA. He is said to have intended the missile to be used in an attack on Air Force One, the American presidential plane, or on a commercial US airliner, and is understood to have planned to buy 50 more of these weapons.

After the Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti (FSB) detected the dealer in Russia, he was approached by US undercover agents posing as terrorists wanting to shoot down a commercial plane. He was then provided with an inert Igla by undercover Russian agents, and arrested in Newark, New Jersey, when making the delivery to the undercover US agent. An Indian citizen residing in Malaysia, Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed and an American Yehuda Abraham who allegedly provided money to buy the missile were also arrested.^[33] Yehuda Abraham is President and CEO of Ambuy Gem Corp.^[34][35][36] Lakhani was convicted by jury in April 2005, and was sentenced to 47 years in prison.^[37]

Igla and Igla-1 SAMs have been exported from the former Soviet Union to over 30 countries, including Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria (former producer), Croatia, Cuba, East Germany, Egypt, Ecuador, Eritrea, Finland, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, the Republic of Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, North Korea, Peru, Poland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. Several guerrilla and terrorist organizations are also known to have Iglas. Alleged Operatives of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam a rebel organization fighting for a homeland for Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka were arrested in August 2006 by undercover agents of the FBI posing as arms dealers, while trying to purchase the Igla. In 2003 the unit cost was approximately US$60,000–80,000.

Large numbers have been sold to the government of Venezuela, raising United States concerns that they may end up in the hands of Colombian guerillas.^[38]

•   Finland: known as ItO 86; former operator
•   Soviet Union: Passed on to successor states

•   Poland: Not military used – only bought licence

•   Finland: Known as ItO-86M; former operator
•   Soviet Union: Passed on to successor states

•   Armenia: 200 missiles.^[40]
•   Azerbaijan: 300 launchers with 1500 missiles.^[41]
•   Brazil
•   Libya: Photo evidence of the truck mounted twin version in service with the Libyan Army emerged during the 2011 Libyan Revolution starting from March 2011. 482 Igla-S missiles were imported from Russia in 2004. Some of them were unaccounted at the end of the war and they could have ended up in Iranian inventory.^[42][43][44] Israeli officials say that Igla-S were looted from Libyan warehouses in 2011 and transported by Iranians through Sudan and turned over to militants in Gaza and Lebanon.^[45]
•   Russia
•   Slovenia
•   Syria: Photo evidence of SA-24 MANPADS (man-portable) in the possession of Syrian rebels was first reported on November 13, 2012. "As far as I know, this is the first SA-24 Manpads ever photographed outside of state control," said one expert.^[46]
•   Thailand^[47]
•   Venezuela^[48]
•   Vietnam^[49]

• The GLL Igla is a recent Russian scramjet project conducted by TsIAM.

• List of Russian weaponry

• Gibka 3M-47 naval turret mount, air defense missile system(Navy recognition)
• SA-18 Igla 9K38 man-portable air defence missile system on armyrecognition.com