Swiss parts found in Russian Verba man-portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile MANPADS

31 October, 2023 Swiss power converter from the company Traco Power in the 9M336 rocket Russian Verba man-portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM) MANPADS are using electronics parts of Swiss origin. Militarnyi reports on this with reference to anonymous specialists of the Defense Forces.

A power converter produced by the Swiss company Traco Power was discovered in the optical three-band homing head of the 9M336 missile. The Russians claim that the head is protected from existing and future laser jamming devices.

Swiss power converter by Traco Power in the optical homing head of the 9M336 missile

Judging by the markings, the missile's elements have different manufacture dates: the boards were manufactured in 2014, and the missile itself was manufactured in 2020. It is also peculiar that the missile uses a 1976 solid fuel motor, which was removed from the old Igla MANPADS.

At the same time, the Russians claim that the 9M336 is equipped with a new engine that can hit targets at an altitude of no more than 4.4 kilometers and at a range of about 6 kilometers. Spent fuel, which has a high level of explosiveness and shielding, is used as an additional destructive element.

Illustration photo of Verba MANPADS. Photo from open sources

The Verba MANPADS is a fairly "fresh" weapon that the Russian military adopted in 2014.

The MANPADS includes an automated control system that uses the 1L122 radar to automatically locate and identify targets.

The Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system can determine the flight parameters and distribute the detected targets among the anti-aircraft gunners based on their location.