KOLOMNA, Moscow Region, January 21 (Interfax-AVN) - The command of the Russian Armed Forces may make a decision on the commissioning of the Igla-S (Igla-Super) portable air defense missile system in the first quarter of 2002, Nikloai Gushchin, head and chief constructor of the local Machine-Building Design Bureau (KBM), said on Monday.
The commissioning of the new air defense missile system will help promote it on the global arms market and contribute to formation of promising export orders, Gushchin told Interfax- Military News Agency.
Development of the system was not financed properly, and the bureau had to cover most of the expenses out of its own funds, the official stressed. The KBM leadership is planning to launch serial production of the Igla-S on its own facilities this year.
The Igla-S system is capable of accomplishing a broad range of missions related to protection of air bases, command posts, bridges, surface ships, areas and routes of troops relocation and other vital installations.
The system boasts an identification friend-or-foe capability and a night sight. The bureau is working to align the system with the Dzhigit launcher and the Strelets control and launching equipment set.
The Igla-S has the range of 5km. The weight of its missile is slightly more than 10kg.
State tests of the system were successfully completed on December 25, 2001, Gushchin said. A major share of tests took place at the bureau's own proving ranges, but missile launches at real airborne targets were held at the Kapustin Yar testing ground in the southern Russian Astrakhan region, he added.