Upgrade of the Air Defenсe fire teams’ capabilities

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Air Defence fire teams use Igla MPADS to shoot russian attack drones and cruise missiles during the day. The Igla system is effective in daylight when missiles and drones are clearly visible in the sky. However, russians mostly launch missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities at night.

The Technary team from Odesa came up with a way to upgrade the Igla anti-aircraft missile system making them effective at night by equipping the system with mounts for thermal imagers.

As part of this project the Foundation purchased 1150 thermal imagers:

• Guide TK 431 - 600 pieces
• Guide TK631 - 400 pieces
• Guide TK PRO 35 - 150 pieces

The Foundation handed over the thermal imagers to the South Air Command and the Naval Air Force air defence units, and the Technary team made mounts for The Igla systems. The project has already proved its effectiveness and completely paid for itself. The cost of a single downed missile, and the infrastructure saved from its interception, still exceeds the total cost of all optical devices purchased so far. There are dozens of confirmed interceptions of cruise missiles and attack drones in the southern direction with the use of The Igla anti-aircraft missile systems equipped with thermal imaging optics.

The more Igla launchers equipped with thermal imagers we have, the more downed missiles and drones we have, and the safer Ukrainian skies are.