Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has announced that his armed forces possess no fewer than 5,000 Russian-made Igla-S man-portable air-defense missiles deployed across the country, describing them as a deterrent against expanding U.S. military operations in the Caribbean.
The declaration reignites debate over regional airspace safety and highlights the growing density of Venezuela’s layered short-range air-defense (SHORAD) architecture, which has evolved over the past decade to include MANPADS, anti-aircraft guns, and radar-linked batteries designed to deny low-altitude access.
The 9K338 Igla-S (NATO: SA-24 “Grinch”) uses a dual-band infrared seeker resistant to flares and decoys, capable of engaging targets between 500 meters and 6 kilometers away, and up to roughly 3.5 kilometers in altitude. Alongside the Swedish RBS-70 laser-guided system, the Igla-S forms part of a hybrid defense layer that forces any intruding aircraft to contend with both heat-seeking and beam-riding threats.
Defense analysts note that this distributed stockpile of thousands of portable missiles complicates U.S. and allied low-altitude operations near Venezuelan borders, increasing the risks for reconnaissance, transport, and helicopter missions. Strategically, it signals Caracas’s intent to harden its airspace and shape U.S. behavior through deterrence rather than direct engagement.
However, experts also warn that the presence of such large MANPADS inventories poses proliferation and safety risks if improperly secured. The new announcement, timed amid expanded U.S. deployments in the Caribbean, underscores Venezuela’s effort to assert military autonomy and strengthen its defensive posture against perceived external threats.
