The U.S. State Department issued a statement
Soviet SA-7
on Thursday stating that over 30,000 Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS) have been destroyed since 2003. Working with 29 countries, the US encouraged them to reduce the amount of at-risk stockpiles of the unnecessary shoulder-fired weapons. Most of these Soviet-era rocket powered devices were old, but could have potentially been used in attacks on civilian airliners around the world. Since The United States has spent nearly $113M in the effort to remove and destroy weapons stockpiles, including MANPADS, since 2001.
Usually containing several components, most include a launching tube with the missile contained inside, a launching mechanism, and a battery. Fortunately, batteries are one component which have limited shelf life and most may only be used once, when the weapon is activated, as in the Soviet-era SA-7. At least 1 million MANPADS have been manufactured by at least 20 countries since they were first introduced in the 1960′s, according to ArmsControl.org.
