Russia has signed a contract to supply Igla shoulder-fired air defence missiles to India and allow New Delhi to manufacture the weapons locally, a top arms export official said.
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| MANPADS are short-range surface-to-air missiles that are very versatile and effective. (Source: IndiaTV/US Army) |
On November 14, TASS news agency quoted a top arms export official as saying that Russia had signed a contract to supply Igla shoulder-fired air defense missiles to India and allow New Delhi to produce these shoulder-fired missiles in India.
Notably, Igla is a man-portable air defense system (MANPADS) capable of shooting down aircraft and only requires one operator.
“We have signed the relevant documents and now, together with a private Indian company, we are arranging the production of Igla-S MANPADS in India,” Alexander Mikheyev, head of Russia’s state arms exporter Rosoboronexport, also said.
Notably, the Indian military has long been looking for new man-portable air defense systems, having inducted a small number of Igla-S systems last year.
The weapons were brought from Russia under an emergency procurement. At the time, it was reported that larger contracts for the Igla-S system under the VSHORAD agreement were in the works.
Russia remains a major arms supplier to India, including defense equipment and fighter jets. Despite Western criticism of Russian defense equipment amid the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, the Indian Defense Ministry continues to purchase military equipment from Russia.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Moscow supplied nearly 45% of India's defense needs between 2018 and 2022, with France supplying 29% and the United States only 11%.
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