Russian Igla missile

Most commonly referred to by its NATO designation, the SA-16 Gimlet, the Igla (it means "needle" in Russian) is a shoulder-fired surface-to-air guided missile. Introduced in 1986, it is used by at least 34 countries. It uses an infrared seeker head to track its target by following the engine heat.

Its range is 5 to 7 kilometers, has a maximum operational altitude of 3,500 meters, and travels a little less than 600 meters per second. It is similar to the SA-14 Gremlin (called the Strela-3 (arrow) in Russian), which superceded the SA-7 Grail (Strela-2), which has a range of 4 to 6 kilometers.

Pre-loaded for firing, the launch tube can be reloaded up to 5 times. It has an impact fuse, which means if it misses its target it will not explode as it passes, which is usually the case with radar-homing missiles fired by fighter planes. Variants exist for use by helicopter gunships and light armored vehicles.

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