The Very Short Range Air Defence System, or VSHORADS, is a latest

man-portable air-defense system Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS or MPADS) are portable Shoulder-launched missile, shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles. They are guided missile, guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters and ...

(MANPADS) developed by

Research Centre Imarat Research Centre Imarat (RCI) is a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratory located in Hyderabad, Telangana. The lab is responsible for research and development of missile systems, Precision-guided munition, guided weapons ...

(RCI), a research lab under

Defence Research and Development Organisation The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is an agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India, charged with the military's research and development, head ...

(DRDO), located in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

. Multiple DRDO laboratories along with Indian industry partners are participating in the project. It is designed for

anti-aircraft warfare Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...

and neutralising low altitude aerial threats at short ranges.

History

Igla-1M has been in use by the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

since the 1980s. Presently, the system is ill-equipped to handle emerging contemporary threats. In 2010, the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

(MoD) released the request for proposal (RFP) for the VSHORAD program, which initiated the beginning of the selection process. When the VSHORAD order was first proposed in 2010, its estimated value was

₹ The Indian rupee sign ⟨₹⟩ is the currency symbol for the Indian rupee (ISO 4217: INR), the official currency of India. Designed by D. Udaya Kumar, it was presented to the public by the Government of India on 15 July 2010, following its ...

27,000

crores Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the Indian ...

. It was listed as one of the high priority procurement program by the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

. Several variants, including ship-based pedestals, man-portable/vehicle-mounted versions, were planned for acquisition. The obsolescence of Army’s air defence inventory was noted by

Chief of the Army Staff Chief of the Army Staff or Chief of Army Staff, which is generally abbreviated as COAS, is a title commonly used for the appointment held by the most senior staff officer or the chief commander in several nations' armies. * Chief of Army Staff ( ...

General V. K. Singh in a letter to former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

in March 2012. The Technical Evaluation Committee examined and approved the

Rosoboronexport JSC Rosoboronexport (ROE; , ''Rosoboroneksport'') is the sole state intermediary agency for Russia's exports/imports of defense-related and dual use products, technologies and services. The Rosoboronexport Federal State Unitary Enterprise (FSU ...

9K338 Igla-S (SA-24 Grinch),

Saab Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab AB, a Swedish aircraft, aerospace and defence company, still known as SAAB, and together with subsidiaries as Saab Group ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab ...

RBS 70 NG,

MBDA MBDA is a European multinational corporation specialized in the design, development and manufacturing of Missile, missiles and related systems.Mistral, and

LIG Nex1 LIG Nex1 Co., Ltd. (), formerly known as LG Innotek () is a South Korean aerospace manufacturer and arms manufacturer. It was established in 1976 as Goldstar Precision. LIG Nex1 was previously owned by LIG Holdings Company, which in turn was ow ...

KP-SAM Chiron The KP-SAM Chiron (Korean Portable-Surface to Air Missile; ) is a South Korean Man-portable air-defense system, shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile manufactured by LIG Nex1. History The KP-SAM Chiron was created to protect South Korea, R ...

in January 2012. While

Starstreak Starstreak is a British short-range surface-to-air missile that can be used as a man-portable air-defence system (MANPADS) or used in heavier systems. It is manufactured by Thales Air Defence (formerly Shorts Missile Systems) in Belfast, Northe ...

from

Thales Air Defence Thales Air Defence Limited (TADL), formerly Shorts Missile Systems (SMS), is a defence contractor based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, producing short range air defence missiles. Shorts Missile Systems was established as a joint venture betwee ...

had already been rejected for non-compliance at the paper evaluation stage. The LIG Nex1 KP-SAM Chiron was removed after failing to appear for trials. The MoD paused the process as it reviewed

Raytheon Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...

's offer to sell its

FIM-92 Stinger The FIM-92 Stinger is an American man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) that operates as an infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM). It can be adapted to fire from a wide variety of ground vehicles, and from helicopters and drones as th ...

on a government-to-government basis. The negotiations were unsuccessful as there was minimal progress on

technology transfer Technology transfer (TT), also called transfer of technology (TOT), is the process of transferring (disseminating) technology from the person or organization that owns or holds it to another person or organization, in an attempt to transform invent ...

. The Rosoboronexport 9K338 Igla-S (SA-24 Grinch), the Saab RBS 70 NG, and the MBDA Mistral were the three competitors for the order, and their trials were concluded in 2013. According to reports in December 2015, India was thinking of forgoing the global tender in favor of an indigenous project falling under the Buy and Make (Indian) procurement category. The staff evaluation is meant to be finished in a maximum of 12 weeks, as per the Defence Procurement Procedure, but it wasn't finished till 2016. The MoD conducted re-confirmatory trials in 2016 as a result of vendor non-compliance. In 2017, the procurement process was stalled by the noncompliance of two out of three vendors. In 2018, the Army's effort to acquire Man-Portable Air Defence Systems came to an end. After receiving bids from Sweden's Saab RBS70 NG and France's MBDA Mistral, Russia's 9K338 Igla-S (SA-24 Grinch), has been deemed the lowest bidder (L-1 in Indian defense lingo) for $3 billion competitive tender. A total of 5,175 missiles and related equipment, such as launchers, sensors, thermal imaging sights, and command and control units, have been requested by the Indian Army under the VSHORAD program. Of these, about 2,300 will be imported in full, 260 will be in semi-knocked down (SKD) condition, 1,000 will be completely knocked down (CKD), and 600 will be produced in India.

Development

Maiden launch of Very Short Range Air Defence System missile

Under the Very Short Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS) program, the Ministry of Defence is examining the 9K338 Igla-S (SA-24 Grinch) system. To promote

Make in India is an initiative by the Government of India to create and encourage companies to develop, manufacture and assemble products in India and incentivize dedicated investments into manufacturing. The policy approach was to create a conducive envi ...

and reduce the import of weapons, the procurement is being delayed. However, a small number of 9K338 Igla-S (SA-24 Grinch) system that were acquired from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

under emergency procurement have been used by the Indian Army. Meanwhile, DRDO seized the opportunity and began developing its own Very Short Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS).

(RCI) in

is responsible for the design and development of VSHORADS, working with other DRDO laboratories and Indian business partners. On January 11, 2023, the MoD granted the VSHORAD (IR Homing) missile variant Acceptance of Necessity (AoN). Reportedly, the DRDO VSHORAD is being built concurrently with another Indian VSHORAD project as a joint venture between a public sector entity based in Hyderabad (possibly

Bharat Dynamics Limited Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) is one of India's manufacturers of ammunitions and missile systems. It was founded in 1970 in Hyderabad, India. BDL has been working in collaboration with the Defence Research and Development Organisation and foreig ...

) and a private sector entity based in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

. To counter drones, helicopters, and fighter jets flying at low altitude, the latter missile will be laser beam riding VSHORAD system. An order of 200 launchers and 1200 missiles is expected for this project, which is valued at . While Indian Army will procure 700 missiles, the Indian Air Force will procure the rest of it. DRDO has developed a tripod-based weapon system as of May 2024, and work is in progress to miniaturize the technology for use as a shoulder-launched variant. The Indian Army is expected to place an initial order for about 500 launchers and 3000 missiles for the DRDO VSHORAD project. On 26 July 2024,

Minister of State for Defence The Minister of State for Defence is a mid-level position in the Ministry of Defence in the British government. It is currently held by Lord Coaker, who took the office on 8 July 2024. Responsibilities The minister has the following ministe ...

Sanjay Seth notified the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in writing that the development of the shoulder fired variant can make use of certain subsystems and technology from VSHORADS project. The development of the miniaturized fourth generation man-portable air-defense system VSHORADS was officially completed on 5 October 2024 after a series of developmental trials. As part of the Development cum Production Partner (DcPP) program, DRDO has selected Adani Defence & Aerospace and ICOMM Tele Limited. Since inception, the VSHORAD project has involved every branch of the

. The Ministry of Defence released a Request for Proposal (RfP) for the procurement of 48 launchers, 48 night vision sights, 85 missiles, and one missile test station of the infrared (IR) homing-based VSHORADS, designated VSHORADS (New Generation) or VSHORAD (NG). The missile should have flexible deployment including "Manportable configuration or Para dropped operations method, on land and ship based platforms". The system could be used by all three services for day-night terminal and point air defence.

Design

The missile is propelled by dual-thrust rocket motor and is made to take out low flying targets. To guarantee effortless mobility, the missile's design, encompassing the launcher, has undergone extensive optimization. VSHORAD missile incorporates integrated avionics and miniaturized

Reaction Control System A reaction control system (RCS) is a spacecraft system that uses Thrusters (spacecraft), thrusters to provide Spacecraft attitude control, attitude control and translation (physics), translation. Alternatively, reaction wheels can be used for at ...

(RCS) to increase mid-air maneuverability. The missile uses a state-of-art uncooled

infrared imaging Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal video or thermal imaging, is a process where a thermal camera captures and creates an image of an object by using infrared radiation emitted from the object in a process, which are examples of infrared im ...

seeker. By varying its thrust, the dual pulse solid propellant rocket motor of the VSHORADS preserves its maneuverability, boosting thrust when required. In order to improve its kill capabilities, the dual waveband infrared imaging seeker can identify its target and use target-specific pursuit algorithms. Under complex countermeasure environments, the seeker can distinguish between targets and decoys with high precision. The reactive thrust vectoring mechanism and aerodynamic surfaces enable complicated and erratic maneuvers while in flight.

Testing

Developmental trials

* On 27 September 2022, DRDO conducted two successful test flights of VSHORAD missile from a ground-based portable launcher from

Integrated Test Range The Integrated Test Range (ITR) is a Test and Evaluation (T&E) centre of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Located in Balasore, Odisha, it provide safe and reliable launch facilities for performance evaluation of rockets, ...

(ITR), Chandipur, off the coast of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

. A Ministry of Defence statement read "''VSHORAD missile incorporates many novel technologies including miniaturised Reaction Control System (RCS) and integrated avionics, which have been successfully proven during the tests''". * On 14 March 2023, DRDO again conducted two consecutive successful flight tests of VSHORAD missile at the ITR, Chandipur. The flight tests were carried out against a high speed unmanned aerial targets, mimicking approaching and receding aircraft. The targets were successfully intercepted, meeting all mission objectives. * On 28 and 29 February 2024, the third and fourth tests were successfully conducted from a ground-based portable launcher. The mission objective, which was to destroy high-speed unmanned targets under different scenarios, was achieved by the tests. The test was witnessed by officials from the Indian Army. * In June 2024,

Asian News International Asian News International (ANI) is an Indian news agency that offers syndicated multimedia news feeds to news bureaus in India. The company was established by Prem Prakash in 1971 and, under the name TVNF, it soon became the first agency in Ind ...

reported that DRDO will carry out high-altitude trails of the missile system at a location like

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

. The issues about short-range interception has been sorted out. The high-altitude trails will be followed by user trials by

. * On 3 and 4 October 2024, three successful flight trials of "miniaturised" VSHORAD were conducted by DRDO in the

Pokhran Test Range Pokhran (official spelling Pokaran; ) is a town and a municipality located 112 km east of Jaisalmer city in the Jaisalmer district of the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is situated in the Thar Desert region. Surrounded by rocks, sand and ...

as part of developmental trials. The tests demonstrated the crucial criteria of maximum range and maximum altitude interception against a fast-moving target. It also demonstrated the weapon system's consistent hit-to-kill performance in a range of target engagement situations, including approaching, retreating, and crossing modes. The trials marked the end of developmental trials of the VSHORADS. This will be followed by rapid production and early user trials. VSHORADS Test firing

* On 1 February 2025, three successive flight-trials of VSHORADS from ITR in the final deployment configuration. The trials were conducted against low-altitude, high-speed targets mimicking adversery UAVs with low thermal signatures. The trial, for the first time, included two field operators carried out weapon readiness, target acquisition and missile firing. This established VSHORADS as a missile capable of engaging low-flying drones along with other aerial threats.

Order

According to the

MoD Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US * ...

's request for proposal to purchase next generation VSHORADs, which was released on 4 May 2025, 48 launchers, 48 night vision sights, 85 missiles, and one missile test station would be purchased under Buy (Indian) category. The Indian design VSHORAD must have at least 50% indigenous content. Foreign design VSHORAD must contain at least 60% indigenous content. The infrared guided VSHORAD should be able to function day and night in all weather conditions, including places covered in snow. The system must work in plains and rivers, deserts, coastal regions, maritime environments and at elevations of 4,500 meters or above. With a maximum range of 6 km, it should be able to reach targets up to 3.5 km altitude. On 24 June 2025, the Indian Army placed an order for an unknown number of VSHORAD launchers and missiles under the Emergency Procurement (EP) mechanisms.

Operators

: 500 launchers and 3000 missiles (planned) *

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

and

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

: 300 launchers and 1800 missiles (planned)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:VSHORADS Surface-to-air missiles of India Weapons and ammunition introduced in 2022