Russia to supply, license production of Igla anti-aircraft missiles to India

Russia has inked a contract to provide Igla-S hand-held anti-aircraft missiles to India and to license manufacturing of the Igla, according to a top weapons export official reported by the Russian state news agency TASS on Tuesday.

 

 

 

The Igla-S is a MANPADS (man-portable air defense system) that may be launched by an individual or a team to knock down an enemy aircraft."We have already signed the corresponding document, and we are now organizing the production of Igla-S MANPADS in India in collaboration with an Indian private company," TASS reported Alexander Mikheyev, head of the state arms exporter Rosoboronexport, as saying.

 

India is the world's top arms importer, and Russia remains its major supplier, despite the damage to its army's and weaponry's image caused by the conflict in Ukraine, in which Russia has suffered multiple reverses at the hands of a smaller but highly motivated and Western-equipped military.

Russia accounted for 45% of India's weaponry imports between 2018 and 2022, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), with France accounting for 29% and the United States accounting for 11%.

Mikheyev previously stated to another Russian official news agency, RIA, that "Rosoboronexport is working with Indian private and public enterprises to organize joint production of aviation weapons and integrate them into India's existing aviation fleet."

 

There was no word on which Indian firms will be engaged or when prospective manufacturing would begin.

Mikheyev stated that Rosoboronexport and Indian partners have delivered Su-30MKI fighter planes, tanks, armored vehicles, and ammunition to the Indian Ministry of Defence.

India and Russia began collaborative manufacture of AK-203 Kalashnikov assault weapons earlier this year.