Misagh-1

The Misagh-1, also written Mithaq-1, is an Iranian man-portable surface-to-air missile of the MANPADS type, developed by the Shahid Kazemi Industrial Complex in Tehran. Iran began production in May 1993. It is described as a variant or reverse-engineered copy of the Chinese QW-1 Vanguard, and looks almost identical to that missile and to Pakistan's Anza, though its straight battery unit distinguishes it from the later QW-1M, called Misagh-2, and the QW-18, called Misagh-3. The missile is passive infrared homing with a solid rocket motor, weighs about 16.9 kilograms, is roughly 1.48 metres long, flies at about Mach 2.6 and reaches around 6 km in range and 5 km in altitude. The Iranian military uses it and it was supplied to Syria, and examples have turned up with Hamas, Hezbollah and anti-government insurgents in Iraq, with the US military suggesting Iranian help in smuggling them.