SA-18 Grouse
Man-portable air-defence system (MANPADS), third generation
The full Igla (1983), with a seeker that looks in both infrared and ultraviolet, making flares and lamp-type IR jammers less effective. Head-on attack is possible under favourable conditions. Variants exist for helicopters (Igla-V), ships (Igla-M, SA-N-10) and with a larger warhead (Igla-N). Used by both sides in Ukraine.
Learn more in the AirDefense Academy →Dimensionsfor imagery analysis
- Missile (L × Ø, span)
- 9M39: 1.574 m × Ø 72 mm; 10.8 kg
- System
- 17.9 kg ready to fire
- Dimension source
- Wikipedia; WEG (ODIN)
General
- Role
- Last layer, man-portable; also on vehicles and helicopters
- Manufacturer
- KBM (Kolomna)
- In service
- 1983
- Variants
- Igla-D (airborne), Igla-M (naval, SA-N-10), Igla-V (air-to-air, helicopter), Igla-N (larger warhead); twin launcher Dzhigit
- System weight
- 17.9 kg; missile 10.8 kg
Weapon
- Missile
- 9M39
- Guidance
- Infrared + ultraviolet (9E410 seeker), aerospike on the nose
- Range
- ≈ 2.8 NM (max)
- Altitude
- up to ≈ 11,500 ft
- Speed
- ≈ 600 m/s average, 800 m/s peak
- Warhead
- 1.17 kg (390 g HMX)
Warning & threat
- RWR
- No — passive; only a MAWS sees the launch
- Combat record
- India–Pakistan 1992, Chechnya 2002 (Mi-26), Turkey 2016 (AH-1W by PKK), Ukraine since 2022 (both sides)
- Countermeasure
- Altitude, DIRCM; flares and lamp jammers less effective
- Threat level
- Medium-high — standard Russian army MANPADS until the Igla-S
News archive 6
Analysed reports from the RU Mil Tracker about this system, newest first. Archive since 2026-07-17.
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Kyiv's air defence crews struggle to keep pace with Russia's jet-powered Geran drones
A Kyiv Independent field report (26 October 2026), based on two days with Ukraine's 112th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade outside Kyiv, describes how jet-powered Geran drones, used against Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast since late summer, are straining the capital's layered air defence. Waves of jet drones now arrive day and night between larger mass assaults. S…
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«Зенитная артиллерия возвращается: справятся ли пушки с реактивными беспилотниками?» (Topwar: 'Anti-aircraft artillery is back: can guns cope with jet-powered drones?')
In an analysis for Topwar (Voennoe Obozrenie), author Anatoly Blinov examines whether gun-based air defence can counter jet-powered one-way attack drones such as Russia's Geran-5. Citing Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR), he puts the Geran-5's cruise speed at 450–600 km/h (versus roughly 170–180 km/h for the piston-engined Geran-2), with a range of 950…
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«Ігла» проти реактивного дрона: на Рівненщині «Герань-4» знищили із ПЗРК (ArmyInform: Igla versus a jet drone: Geran-4 destroyed with a MANPADS in Rivne region)
On the morning of 11 October, Ukrainian air defenders in Rivne region (north-western Ukraine) destroyed a Russian jet-powered Geran-4 drone, ArmyInform reports. According to a video released by Air Command West, the drone was shot down by Junior Sergeant Vasyl Rezanovych of the command's security battalion using an Igla-1 man-portable air-defence system (MA…
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Кулемети відпрацювали до останнього набою — далі була «Ігла»: над Рівненщиною збили реактивну «Герань» (ArmyInform: Machine guns fired to the last round, then came the Igla: jet-powered Geran shot down over Rivne region)
ArmyInform, the news agency of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, reports on a video published by the Lviv Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade named after Ivan Vyhovsky (Air Command "West") showing a mobile fire group shooting down a jet-powered Geran over Rivne region around midnight.
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ПЗРК «Ива». Новый комплекс российской ПВО и иностранный след
Topwar author Kirill Ryabov analyses the 'Iva' man-portable air defence system (MANPADS) that appeared in a 27 September report by Rossiya 1's 'Vesti Nedeli' on Rostov Oblast. Soldiers of a mobile fire group (MOG) tasked with regional air defence, call signs 'Leshiy' and 'Modny', showed machine-gun mounts and a new MANPADS: a transport case holding two miss…
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Why Did russian Ka-52 Helicopter Fail to Shoot Down Ukrainian FP-1 UAV with Missile, What Alternatives do russians Have
SINGLE SOURCE — Ukrainian publication (Defense Express), not independently corroborated.