The Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation has purchased 500 thermal imagers to be used in Igla MANPADS.

Modified air defense systems will enhance the capabilities of mobile fire groups.

They will help to more effectively shoot down enemy air targets at night.

To implement this project, 500 Guide TK431 thermal imagers were purchased.

“We have a long queue of mobile firing groups lined up for these devices, which will now receive a significant increase in their ability to shoot down air targets at night,” said Prytula.

The thermal imagers will be adapted to Soviet-era Igla MANPADS using a special mount developed by the specialists of the Technary Design Bureau.

The Guide TK431 thermal imagers significantly enhance the capabilities of mobile air defense teams in countering constant nighttime attacks by Russian drones and cruise missiles.

In October 2023, Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation purchased and handed over 250 thermal imagers for man-portable air defense systems: 100 Guide TK 431 and 150 Guide TK PRO 35.

The Come Back Alive Foundation is also engaged in financing the modernization of six Igla MANPADS.

The man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) were reassembled and checked. Some of the components were replaced with more modern and high-tech ones. As a result, the reliability of these MANPADS has significantly increased, according to the project coordinators.

The modernization of MANPADS is only one of the moments of the charitable foundation’s systemic work to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense.

Igla MANPADS is a Soviet man-portable anti-aircraft missile system designed to engage low-flying targets on oncoming and parallel courses. The system can be used by one soldier. It is capable of hitting aerial targets at a distance of up to 5,000 meters at an altitude of up to 3500 meters.