SA-18 Grouse

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Igla
Igla
Basic data
Function	short-range anti-air missile
Manufacturer	KBM
Unit cost	USD 60,000 - 80,000 (as of 2003)
Entered service	1990s
General characteristics
Engine	solid rocket motor
Launch mass	11 kg
Length	1.7 m
Diameter	72 mm
Speed	700 m/s, about Mach 2
Range	5.2 km
Service ceiling	3.5 km
Warhead	2 kg with 390 g explosive
Guidance	two color infrared
Fuzes	contact and grazing fuzes

The 9K38 "Igla" (Russian 9К38 "Игла́" – needle, NATO reporting name SA-18 Grouse) is a Russian/Soviet man-portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM) system. Its most advanced version, the 9K38-M Igla-1, has an all-aspect engagement capability.

A variant is the 9K38-M Igla-1, which has the NATO reporting name SA-16 Gimlet.

The naval variant of 9K38-M Igla-1 has the NATO reporting name (NATO SA-N-10 Grouse).

[edit] History

Development of the Igla short-range man-portable air defence missile (MANPADS) began in the Kolomna OKB in 1971. Contrary to what is commonly reported, the Igla is not an improved version of the earlier Strela family (Strela-2/SA-7 and Strela-3/SA-14), but an all new project. 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/SA-14 would be developed to enter service earlier than the full-capability version could be finished.

[edit] Igla-1

On the top a SA-18 (Igla) missile, launch tube and grip stick. Below is a SA-16 (Igla-1) missile and launch tube.

The 9K310 Igla-1 system (NATO reporting name SA-16 Gimlet) and its 9M313 missile were accepted into service in the Soviet army on 11 March 1981. Main differences from the Strela-3 include:

• Optional IFF (Identification-Friend-or-Foe) system to prevent firing on friendly aircraft.
• Automatic lead and super elevation to simplify shooting and reduce minimum firing range.
• Slightly larger rocket, reduced drag and better guidance system extend maximum range and improve performance against fast and maneuverable targets.
• Improved lethality on target achieved by a combination of delayed impact fusing, terminal maneuver to hit the fuselage rather than jet nozzle, and an additional charge to set off the remaining rocket fuel (if any) on impact.
• Improved resistance to countermeasures (both decoy flares and ALQ-144 series jamming emitters).
• Slightly improved seeker sensitivity.

According to the manufacturer, South African tests have shown 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 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, the Igla-1 has a Pk (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 a Pk of 0.59 against an approaching and 0.44 against receding F-4 fighter not employing infra-red countermeasures or evasive manoeuvers.

[edit] Igla

A soldier showing off an Igla-1 launcher. Photo by GulfLINK.

The full-capability 9K38 Igla (NATO reporting name SA-18 Grouse) with 9M39 missile was finally accepted to service in the Soviet Army in 1983. The main improvements over the Igla-1 include:

• much improved resistance against flares and jamming.
• more sensitive seeker, expanding forward-hemisphere engagement capability to include straight-approaching fighters (all-aspect capability) under favourable circumstances.
• slightly longer range.
• a higher-impulse, shorter-burning rocket with higher peak velocity (but approximately same time of flight to maximum range), and a propellant that performs as high explosive when detonated by the warhead's secondary charge on impact.

Tests in Finland have shown that compared to the French Mistral, the 9K38 Igla has inferior range and seeker sensitivity and smaller warhead, but superior resistance to countermeasures.

[edit] Other variants

Dual mount for the Igla

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 late 1980s.
• Igla-1D - A version for paratroopers and special forces with separate launch tube and missile.
• 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?.
• The newest variant is Igla-1S, which is a substantially improved variant with longer range, more sensitive seeker, improved resistance to latest countermeasures, and a heavier warhead.

[edit] Comparison chart to other MANPADS

[edit] Use in alleged plot against Air Force One

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.

Allegedly, after the Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti 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 a non-working 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.

Igla and Igla-1 SAMs have been exported from Russia to over 30 countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, GDR, Malaysia, Finland, India, Iraq, Poland, Singapore, Serbia, Montenegro, Mexico, Slovenia, South Korea, Syria and Turkey. Several guerrilla and terrorist organizations are also known to have Iglas. Operatives of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam a terrorist organization fighting for a so-called homeland for Tamils in the island of Sri Lanka were arrested in August 2006 by undercover agents of the FBI posing as shady arms dealers, while trying to purchase the Igla. In 2003 the unit cost was approximately USD 60,000 - 80,000.