Vietnam turns Igla into ship-based air defense missile
Vietnam has just successfully integrated the Igla man-portable air defense missile (MANPADS) onto the Petya anti-submarine ship.
In a recent report on the anti-submarine brigade, the QPVN channel broadcast images showing the appearance of an anti-aircraft missile launcher on the anti-submarine frigate Petya.
These images show that Vietnam has upgraded and installed additional missiles to increase the defensive firepower of the Petya submarine hunter to meet the task of protecting the islands of the Fatherland.
This missile system basically consists of a launcher with shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile tubes using separate infrared seekers. Therefore, they basically do not depend on the warship's radar but operate independently, self-detect targets, and self-destruct.
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| Vietnam's shipborne anti-aircraft missiles. |
Although the weapons equipped on the Petya ship's launcher have not been disclosed, according to the published images, the shoulder-fired missiles that can be mounted on the rack include 9K32 Strela-2 or Igla. Currently, Vietnam has produced both types of shoulder-fired air defense missiles.
Igla or full name 9K38 Igla is a low-altitude shoulder-fired air defense missile system (NATO designation SA-18 Grouse) developed by the Soviet KBM design bureau in the early 1980s.
This missile was officially accepted into service in the Soviet armed forces in 1983. It has been exported to about 20-30 countries around the world and has been highly effective in several armed conflicts.
The entire Igla missile complex weighs about 17.9kg in combat, with the missile warhead weighing 10.8kg (equipped with a 1.17kg explosive fragmentation warhead) equipped with an improved infrared seeker capable of dealing with interference measures of enemy fighter aircraft.
In particular, the Igla's seeker increases the ability to intercept targets in the front hemisphere in addition to the ability to track the rear hemisphere - or the engine part - the position that radiates the most heat. The Igla missile complex can take down targets at a distance of up to 5.2 km, at an altitude of 3.5-4 km.
Along with the upgrade package with air defense missiles, Vietnam is also said to have successfully implemented a series of new upgrade packages with the Petya warship, including replacing the old generation radar display screen with a liquid crystal display.
And according to Daily News in mid-2016, Vietnam cooperated with India to replace the sonar system to enhance the anti-submarine warfare power of this no longer new class of warship.
