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9K38 Igla

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« The Igla (in English: Needle) is a Russian, man-portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile weapon. This weapon is designated as "SA-18" in the US and its NATO reporting name is "Grouse."
The Igla uses 9M39 missiles. This weapon is highly valued for its resistance to countermeasures. Because of its easy availability on the black market it has often been used in terrorist attacks on civilian aircraft over last 30 years, mostly in Africa.
Armoury Description[1][2]
 »
The 9K38 Igla 72 mm missile launcher.
The 9K38 Igla 72 mm missile launcher.

The 9K38 Igla is a 72 mm surface-to-air missile launcher used exclusively by the Russian Armed Forces in ArmA 2.

Overview[]

The 9K38 Igla (NATO reporting name: SA-18 Grouse) is a shoulder-launched, man-portable surface-to-air missile launcher.

It can load and fire 72 mm infrared-guided missiles fitted with high-explosive fragmentation (HE-Frag) warheads. It utilises a simple ironsight for aiming and has a hollow circular post reticle. The launcher's seeker takes 3 seconds to lock onto a valid target.[CfgWp 4] Its seeker has a 20% chance to have its lock get temporarily broken by flare-based countermeasures.[CfgWp 5]

Used by Russian military forces deployed to Chernarus, the 9K38 is essentially a slighter better version of the older 9K32 Strela-2 SAM that features an improved IR seeker and more powerful warhead.[CfgAm 1]

Compared to its American counterpart, the FIM-92F, the 9K38 is identical in terms of damage[CfgAm 1], blast radius[CfgAm 2], and the same 20% susceptibility to flare-based countermeasures.[CfgAm 3] The main differences (and advantages) to the 9K38 is that its 9M39 missiles have ~ 35% better manoeuvrability and can turn more sharply (Stinger missiles have a friction factor of 0.026 versus the 9K38's 0.038).[CfgAm 4] It also takes 9M39 missiles only 1.5 seconds to attain enough thrust to reach a maximum in-flight speed of 800 m/s.[CfgAm 5] This is 50% faster than Stinger missiles which need at least 2.5 seconds, making it harder for enemy helicopters to avoid the 9M39 unless they dump flares quickly enough.

However, it is recommended to operate the 9K38 in two- or three-man teams who can haul additional missiles for the main operator. This is because each missile requires six inventory slots which will cause its user to run out of missiles after just a single shot (unless they choose to forgo carrying ammunition for their primary weapon altogether).[CfgMa 2] Like all shoulder-fired launchers, wielding the 9K38 also prevents the user from being able to carry a backpack at the same time, further restricting their ability to bring any reserve missiles into battle.[CfgWp 1]

Nonetheless, the 9K38's upsides far outweigh its sole downside (inventory space), and is by far the best man-portable SAM launcher in ArmA 2. Short of being in a bad position or heavy flare usage by the target, the 9K38 will almost always never miss its target.

Sight[]

Arma2-igla-ironsight-overview

The 9K38's sight cannot be manually zeroed. Lock-ons are still possible even when the launcher's sight is not pointed directly at the target aircraft.

Recoil curves[]

 
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    title: {
        text: 'launcherBase'
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    tooltip: {
        trigger: 'axis',
        axisPointer: {
            type: 'cross',
            label: {
                backgroundColor: '#824100'
            }
        }
    },
    legend: {
        data: ['Time Taken', 'Kickback', 'Kick Up']
    },
    toolbox: {
        feature: {
            saveAsImage: {}
        }
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    grid: {
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        right: '4%',
        bottom: '3%',
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    xAxis: [
        {
            name: 'Duration',
            nameLocation: 'middle',
            type: 'category',
            boundaryGap: false,
            data: ['0', '0.01', '0.02']
        }
    ],
    yAxis: [
        {
            name: 'Amplitude',
            nameLocation: 'end',
            type: 'value'
        }
    ],
    series: [
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            name: 'Time Taken',
            type: 'line',
            stack: 'Total',
            label: {
                show: true,
                position: 'top'
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            areaStyle: {},
            emphasis: {
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            data: [0, 0.01, 0.025],
            smooth: true
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        {
            name: 'Kickback',
            type: 'line',
            stack: 'Total',
            label: {
                show: true,
                position: 'top'
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            areaStyle: {},
            emphasis: {
                focus: 'series'
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            data: [0, 0, 0],
            smooth: true
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        {
            name: 'Kick Up',
            type: 'line',
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            label: {
                show: true,
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            data: [0, 0.05, 0],
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Charts/graphs are not available on mobile. Please switch to desktop mode in order to see them.


Munitions[]

Igla Missile

Igla Missile

The 9K38 can only load and fire one type of missile.[CfgWp 6] It requires six[CfgMa 2] free inventory slots to carry:

Parameter Value
Base damage value 70[CfgAm 1]
Splash damage value 50[CfgAm 6]
Warhead type High-Explosive
Blast radius (metres) 8[CfgAm 2]
Launch velocity (m/s) 40[CfgMa 3]
Maximum speed (m/s) 800[CfgAm 7]

The Igla's 9M39 missiles are always fired with an initial velocity of 40 m/s.[CfgMa 3] 0.25 seconds after launch[CfgAm 8], the missile will need only 1.5 seconds[CfgAm 5] of additional flight time to attain a maximum speed of 800 m/s.[CfgAm 7]

The 9M39's warhead has a blast radius of 8 metres.[CfgAm 2] Its seeker has a 20% chance to lose lock to defensive flare countermeasures.[CfgAm 3] The missile itself only has enough fuel for 9 seconds of flight time and will automatically self-destruct if it does not hit its target within this timeframe.[CfgAm 9]

Trivia[]

  • A dual-mount version of the 9K38 is fitted onto a tripod as a static weapon. This configuration is based on a real-life variant of the 9K38 called the "Djigit" (alternately as "Dzhigit")[3], and is commonly employed as a mounted weapon on vehicles and defensive fortifications.
    • However, the in-game launchers themselves are strangely based on the older 9K32 Strela-2 and not the 9K38 for unknown reasons.
  • The 9K38's sights were adjusted after the release of the latest Steam version patches (as part of the CorePatch updates) to be less obstructive when looked at in first person.[4]

Gallery[]

Config/script references[]

CfgAmmo

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 CfgAmmo >> M_Igla_AA >> hit
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 CfgAmmo >> M_Igla_AA >> indirectHitRange
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 CfgAmmo >> M_Igla_AA >> cmImmunity >> "0.8"
  4. ↑ CfgAmmo >> M_Igla_AA >> sideAirFriction
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 CfgAmmo >> M_Igla_AA >> thrustTime
  6. ↑ CfgAmmo >> M_Igla_AA >> indirectHit
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 CfgAmmo >> M_Igla_AA >> maxSpeed
  8. ↑ CfgAmmo >> M_Igla_AA >> initTime
  9. ↑ CfgAmmo >> M_Igla_AA >> timeToLive

CfgMagazines

  1. ↑ CfgMagazines >> Igla >> count
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 CfgMagazines >> Igla >> type >> "6 * 256"
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 CfgMagazines >> Igla >> initSpeed

CfgWeapons

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 CfgWeapons >> Igla >> type >> "4"
  2. ↑ CfgWeapons >> Igla >> recoil
  3. ↑ CfgWeapons >> Igla >> dexterity
  4. ↑ CfgWeapons >> Igla >> weaponLockDelay
  5. ↑ CfgWeapons >> Igla >> cmImmunity >> "0.8"
  6. ↑ CfgWeapons >> Igla >> magazines[] >> {"Igla"}

References[]

  1. ↑ Bohemia Interactive a.s., 2009, AT/AA Launchers, Arma 2, viewed 5 March 2025, <https://www.arma2.com/arma-2-weaponry/ataa-launchers>.
  2. ↑ Bohemia Interactive a.s., 2010, AT/AA Launchers, Arma 2, viewed 5 March 2025, <https://www.arma2.com/arma-2-oa-weaponry/a-2-oa-ataa-launchers>.
  3. ↑ Pike, J 2021, SA-18 Grouse (Igla 9K38), GlobalSecurity.org, viewed 17 April 2023, <https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/sa-18.htm>.
  4. ↑ Mazzon, M et al. 2019, CorePatch, GitHub, viewed 17 April 2023, <https://github.com/Goliath86/CorePatch/blob/master/Changelog.txt>.

External links[]

See also[]

Variants[]

Weapons of comparable role and configuration[]

Weapons of ArmA 2
Handguns CZ 75 D COMPACT 9 mm (P-07 DUTY, SP-01 PHANTOM) • G17 9 mm • M1911 .45 • M9 9 mm • Makarov 9 mm • Revolver .45
Submachine guns CZ Scorpion Evo 3 A1 9 mm • MP5A5 9 mm (SD6) • PDW 9 mm • PP-19 Bizon 9 mm • Sa-61 Scorpion .32
Shotguns M1014 • Saiga 12K • AA-12
Carbines AKS-74U 5.45 mm* • G36 series* (G36C*, G36K*) • M4A1 5.56 mm (M4A1 M203, M4A3, M4A3 M203) • Mk16 CQC 5.56 mm • XM8 Compact 5.56 mm
Assault rifles AK-107 5.45 mm (AK-107 GP-25) • AK-74 5.45 mm (AK-74 GP-25*, AKS-74*) • AKM 7.62 mm • AKS 7.62 mm* • CZ 805 BREN A1 5.56 mm (CZ 805 A1 G1, CZ 805 BREN A2, CZ 805 B1 G1) • FN FAL 7.62 mm • G36A 5.56 mm* • L85A2 5.56 mm (L85A2 UGL) • M16A2 5.56 mm* (M16A2 M203*) • M16A4 5.56 mm (M16A4 M203) • SCAR series (Mk16, Mk16 EGLM, Mk17, Mk17 EGLM) • Sa-58 7.62 mm • XM8 series (XM8, XM8 M320)
Designated marksman rifles DMR 7.62 mm • L86A2 LSW 5.56 mm • M14 7.62 mm • Mk12 SPR 5.56 mm • Mk17 Sniper 7.62 mm • VSS Vintorez 9 mm • XM8 Sharpshooter 5.56 mm
Sniper rifles AS50 12.7 mm • CZ 550 9.3 mm • CZ 750 S1 M1 .308 • KSVK 12.7 mm* • Lee-Enfield .303 • LRR .338 • M107 .50* • M110 7.62 mm • M24 7.62 mm* (M40A3) • SVD Dragunov 7.62 mm*
Squad automatic weapons L110A1 5.56 mm • M249 SAW 5.56 mm* • MG36 5.56 mm* • RPK-74 5.45 mm • XM8 Automatic Rifle 5.56 mm
Machineguns L7A2 GPMG 7.62 mm • Mk 48 Mod 0 7.62 mm* • M240 7.62 mm* • M60E4 7.62 mm • PKP 7.62 mm • PKM 7.62 mm • UK-59 7.62 mm
Grenade launchers M32 • M79 • Mk13
Launchers 9K32 Strela-2 • 9K38 Igla • 9K115-2 Metis-M • FGM-148 Javelin • FIM-92F Stinger • M136 • M47 Dragon • MAAWS • NLAW • RPG-7V • RPG-18 • SMAW
Static AGS-30 • D-30 • DShKM • Igla AA Pod • KORD • L111A1 • L134A1 • M119A1 • M2 • M252 • Mk19 • Metis AT-13 • 2B14 Podnos • RBS-70 • Searchlight • SPG-9 • Stinger • TOW • ZU-23
(Parenthesis) denote variants.
* indicates partial DLC dependency.
Operation Arrowhead | British Armed Forces | Private Military Company | Army of the Czech Republic
Arma2-factionicon-russianarmedforces Russian Armed Forces - Armoury (ArmA 2)
Handguns Makarov 9 mm
Submachine guns PP-19 Bizon 9 mm
Shotguns Saiga 12K
Carbines AKS-74U 5.45 mm
Assault rifles AK-107 5.45 mm (AK-107 GP-25)
Designated marksman rifles VSS Vintorez 9 mm
Sniper rifles KSVK 12.7 mm • SVD Dragunov 7.62 mm
Squad automatic weapons RPK-74 5.45 mm
Machineguns PKP 7.62 mm • PKM 7.62 mm
Launchers 9K38 Igla • 9K115-2 Metis-M • RPG-7V • RPG-18
Static 2B14 Podnos • AGS-30 • D-30 • Igla AA Pod • KORD • Metis AT-13 • Searchlight
(Parenthesis) denote variants.
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