The Indian Army plans to acquire 250 Russian 9K333 Verba Man-portable surface-to- air missile system (MANPADS). The proposal was cleared by the Defence Procurement Board last month and will come up for final clearance by the 

Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) shortly. The Verba (NATO reporting name SA-29 “Gizmo”) will replace the third-generation Russian Igla MANPAD, acquired in the 1990s. The Indian Army currently uses the improved Igla-S, which is made in India by Adani Defence under the name ARKA.

The "Verba" man-portable air defence missile system is designed to destroy aeroplanes, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles on head-on and catch-up courses in conditions of powerful organised optical interference with visual visibility of the target. The shoulder-fired missile can hit targets at ranges of 500 to 6,500 meters, altitudes of up to 4.5 kilometres, and at a speed of up to 500 meters/second.

The Verba’s real innovation is the updated warhead seeker and fire control system. The seeker has been upgraded from the previous-generation Igla-S missile, enhancing accuracy and improving the seeker’s ability to filter out interference, improving its performance against countermeasures. Unlike the seeker on Igla, which uses two separate IR sensors that cross-check against one another, Verba’s seeker makes use of three sensors: ultraviolet, near infrared, and mid-infrared sensors, making it even harder for a target aircraft to disrupt the system using decoys. The Verba's containerised 9M336 surface-to-air missile (SAM) can be integrated into ground- and sea-based short-range air-defence (SHORAD) systems.

There is an indigenous solution around the corner— the DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat, in Hyderabad, has developed the fourth-generation Very Short-Range Air Defence System  (VSHORADS). The indigenous missile has a range of 6 km and a maximum extended range up to 8 km and can engage targets at altitudes of up to 4.5 km. It is currently in the advanced stages of being produced by private and public sector partners. Adani Defence is one of the partners. On January 11, 2023, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) granted the DRDO VSHORAD an Acceptance of Necessity (AoN). If the proposal goes ahead, then India will have three types of VSHORADS in its arsenal— the legacy Igla-S, the new Verba and the DRDO VSHORAD. 

The Army has attempted to buy VSHORADs since 2010 to replace its ageing inventory. The Igla-S was first purchased in 2020. And in May 2025, the army received 48 launchers and 100 missiles as part of an Rs 260 crore emergency procurement contract. The Army now has 96 launchers and more than 400 missiles. 

Arjun Dev Singh

Arjun Dev Singh has a deep interest in defence, security, and strategic affairs. With a strong analytical lens and a passion for military and geopolitical developments, Arjun strives to bring clarity and context to complex national and international issues.