9K338 Igla-S

The 9K338 Igla-S, known to NATO as the SA-24 Grinch, is a Russian man-portable, shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missile system that entered the story of Russian air defence in 2004. It was the culmination of a line of Soviet and Russian shoulder-fired designs that began in the 1950s and 1960s and passed through the 9K32, 9K34, 9K310 and 9K38 marks. A slim launch tube holds the missile, integrated optics, the guidance electronics and a trigger and grip unit, and night vision is standard on every unit. The Igla-S missile carries a heavier 2.5 kilogram high-explosive fragmentation warhead with contact and timed fusing and a longer engagement range than its predecessors. Guidance is infrared homing, with an engagement range from about 500 meters to about 6,000 meters. It is a line-of-sight weapon aimed at low-flying targets such as helicopters, strike aircraft and transports. The launcher is about 1,574 millimeters long and weighs about 10.8 kilograms. Military Factory records the Russian Army, Brazil, Iran, Libya, Slovenia, Syria, Venezuela and Vietnam as operators by 2013, with Iraq receiving a batch from late 2014. KB Mashinostroyeniya is the named contractor.