MANPADS Man-Portable Air-Defense System
A shoulder-fired, infrared-guided surface-to-air missile that a single soldier can carry, aim, and fire without a vehicle or radar system.
MANPADS are surface-to-air missiles that one person, or occasionally a small crew, can carry, aim, and fire from the shoulder, with no radar vehicle, fire-control truck, or extensive training required1. A typical system is three parts: a missile sealed in a disposable launch tube, a reusable gripstock carrying the trigger and sighting unit, and a single-use battery that powers the missile before launch. Guidance is almost always passive infrared, homing on an aircraft’s engine heat rather than a radar return, which keeps the whole package light (roughly 13 to 25 kg all-in) but limits it to short engagement ranges against helicopters and low, slow fixed-wing aircraft rather than fast, high-flying jets2.
That combination of low cost, portability, and outsized effect against rotary-wing and low-altitude targets is what makes MANPADS one of the most consequential weapon classes in modern air-defense proliferation debates. For the full breakdown, including how Stinger and Igla compare, what they actually cost, and how aircraft defend against them, see MANPADS Explained.
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