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Iran made a secret $589 million deal with Russia to acquire thousands of advanced man-portable air defense missile systems (MANPADS), the Financial Times reported on February 22.
Under the agreement, signed in Moscow in December, Iran should receive 500 man-portable “Verba” launch units and 2,500 “9M336” missiles from Russia over three years, the news outlet said, citing leaked Russian documents and several people familiar with the deal.
The deliveries of the MANPADS are scheduled in three tranches, running from 2027 all the way through 2029, according to the report.
FT said that the deal was negotiated between Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport and the Moscow representative of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).
Tehran formally requested the systems last July, according to a contract seen by the FT. In the same month, Israel attacked Iran, in what later became known as the 12-day war. The United States joined in, attacking three of the Islamic Republic’s main nuclear facilities.
The Verba, developed by KB Mashinostroyeniya, has an operational range of 6.5 kilometers, with the ability to engage targets flying at an altitude of 4.5 kilometers with a speed up to 500 meters per second, that’s about Mach 1,5.
The missile is equipped with a multispectral optical seeker which uses three sensors: ultraviolet, near infrared, and mid-infrared.
Cross-checking sensors against one another improves discrimination between relevant targets and decoys, and decreases the chance of disruption from countermeasures, including lasers that attempt to blind missiles. This also improves the missile’s performance against newer threats with low infrared signature, like drones and cruise missiles.
The Verba can be equipped with the 1PN97M Mowgli-2M thermal sight, which greatly improves the ability to detect and aim at targets at night and in poor weather conditions. It can be also used in conjunction with the 1L122 Harmonium man-portable radar, which has a detection range of up to 40 kilometers. It is unclear if Iran is getting any of these systems along with the MANPADS.
The system, which has been only exported to Armenia before, proved to be highly capable during the Russian special military operation in Ukraine.
Just earlier this month, a representative of the High Precision Systems holding company — part of the state tech corporation Rostec — told TASS at the World Defense Show 2026 in Saudi Arabia that the Verba was used to shoot down thousands of drones over the special military operation zone.
The FT report came amid a massive U.S. military buildup in the Middle East and direct threats from President Donald Trump to Iran over several issues, including recent deadly protests and the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Despite indirect talks between the two sides, all recent reports indicate that war is around the corner.
The Verba will significantly strengthen the lowest tier of Iran’s air defense network. However, the latest report suggests that the Islamic Republic is not getting any of the systems this year. Of course, considering the recent escalation by the U.S., it is possible that deliveries could begin earlier than what was agreed on.
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by 2027, will there be an iran left?
the us plans to attack iran within a month. even if the us attack on iran fails, the us will just attack iran again in a few more months or try new protests.
chumpo attacks iran and he is finished, committing hari kiri.
all that costs money the us doesn’t have. they wasted the us wealth on their previous wars. default awaits along with inflation.
manpads are effective against tomahawk missiles which are slow and fly close to the ground. just wondering if ‘verba’ has features that allows the operator to spot and target them at night. the u.s. will launch them at night.
pierwsze dostawy w 2027 roku… do tego czasu gdy szatany zjednoczone zaatakują to z iranu zostanie gruz. chyba, że chiny i rosja tym razem włączą się w ten konflikt. tylko iran przeciwstawia się żydoameryce w regionie.
nato is probing russian nuclear forces using ukraine!
and putin the meek does nothing!
attack on udmurtia was a attack on the maker of topol – yars – bulava
another attack on russia nuclear forces!
restraint only encourages the terrorists!
well, when your beloved drumpf decides to decapitate russia please don´t cry…
you will get an american visa/mastercard for you…
russia is lost…
don´t get fooled by propagandists…
early warning satellites are off!
russia is now “open”
if us slbms decide to attack…
lack of ideology matters!
only china and north korea left!
putin and his oligarch joos friends will go down on history… as destroyers of soviet legacy… and of russian nation!
congrats!
rus needs new tough strong leader
i think all this “putin is a weak leader” is a 100% western psyop to 1) brainwash the people to dislike and/or get rid of him, and 2) to goad putin/russia into being more aggressive, and then frame him as being aggressive and then crying to be victims.
putin is strong. but calm. this annoys the crap out of the warmongering west! and highlights the low class, crass, aggressive filth we have in the west as leaders.
rus need to get rid of their jews. period.
no, the 6 russian tundra-class early warning satellites that you likely refer to are just being moved a little bit to a position that allows even better observation of the middle east, including iran, israel, and u.s. military bases in the region. for example, potential trajectories of u.s. irbm or israeli jericho missiles toward iran are now observable earlier and longer at higher 63° inclinations.
the russian nation and industry has for a long time been able to produce weapons quickly and in volume. something to do with raw materials and manpower. i suspect that us invaders may have a hard job getting out of iran once in, like the last time it was tried. saddam couldn’t beat the iranian people even with nato supplied chemical weapons.
it’s 2026 and the s will htf soon, and deliveries start in 2027 ! !
great deal.