A surface-to-air missile (SAM) or ground-to-air missile (GAM) is a
missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy
aircraft. It is a type of
anti-aircraft system.Land-based SAMs can be deployed from fixed installations or mobile launchers. The smallest SAMs are capable of being carried and launched by a single person. These types of SAM are also referred to as Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (
ManPADS). Soviet ManPADS have been exported around the world and can still be found in many of their former client states. Other nations have developed their own ManPADS (see list below).
See more at Wikipedia.org...