Aircraft
Aviation Industry Mum on Russia’s Veiled Manpad Warning
Russia fails to provoke a reaction from the West on warning about the transfer of U.S.-made manpads to “terrorists or illegal armed groups.”
Russia has issued a warning that the transfer to Ukraine of manpads, including Stinger shoulder-fired air defense systems, pose a threat to civil aviation. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY) by The U.S. Army)
Russia has issued a warning that the transfer to Ukraine of manpads, including Stinger shoulder-fired air defense systems, pose a threat to civil aviation. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY) by The U.S. Army)

Russia has so far failed to provoke a reaction from Western aviation alphabet organizations with a recent warning about the threat to civil aircraft from surface-to-air missiles exported from the U.S. to Ukraine.  In a March 5 statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova cited what she called the growing threat of man-portable air-defense systems (manpads) making their way into the hands of “terrorists or illegal armed groups, not only in Ukraine, but in Europe as well,” thereby posing a “great danger” to civil aviation.