Grom ( missile ) The Grom ( meaning " thunder " in Polish ) is a man - portable air - defence system produced in Poland . It consists of a 72 mm anti - aircraft missile set with a flight speed of 650 m / s , as well as a single - use launcher , re - usable gripstock and thermal battery coolant assembly electric unit . The full name of the system is PZR Grom , PZR standing for " Przeciwlotniczy Zestaw Rakietowy " ( literally anti - air rocket - propelled system ) . It is designed to target low - flying helicopters and aeroplanes . As such , the Grom missile is used by other surface - to - air defence systems of Polish design , including ZSU - 23 - 4MP Biała , ZUR - 23 - 2KG and POPRAD self - propelled artillery system . It should not to be confused with versions of the Zvezda Kh - 23 air - to - surface missile built under licence in Yugoslavia / Serbia as the Grom - A and Grom - B . History . Initially at least since 1970s the MESKO metal works in Skarżysko - Kamienna mass - produced license - built Soviet Strela - 2M ( SA - 7 Grail ) surface - to - air missile s , designated in Poland as Strzała - 2M . However , when these became outdated in late 1980s the lead designers prepared the works to produce a more modern Soviet design , the 9K38 Igla ( SA - 18 Grouse ) . However , Poland left the Soviet bloc in 1990 and the license was declined , thus leaving Poland with no modern MANPADS at hand . Because of that , in late 1992 various Polish works and design bureaus ( among them the Zielonka - based Military Institute of Armament Technology , the WAT Military University of Technology and the Skarżysko Rocket Design Bureau ) started working on a new Igla - like design . These were allegedly helped by the Polish intelligence services able to buy the design plans of the original 9K38 Igla missile system in the LOMO works in Leningrad ( modern St . Petersburg ) during the turmoil following the dissolution of the Soviet Union . By 1995 the first batch ( marked as GROM - 1 ) entered service . It included a number of imported Russian components . By late 1990s these were replaced with entirely Poland - designed elements . On January 1 , 2013 , Bumar Amunicja manufactured their 2 , 000th Grom missile set . Design . The system is designed to be operated by one soldier . It consists of a single - stage projectile , a single - use tubular launcher , a starting mechanism , and an on - ground power supply . The rocket projectile uses solid propellant . The infrared aiming sensor is cooled with liquid nitrogen . There are options for identification friend or foe and thermovision . Operational history . The ' Grom ' has been used by Polish Land Forces since 1995 . It is also exported to other countries , including Georgia which bought 30 launchers and 100 missiles in 2007 . According to press releases during the 2008 South Ossetia war Polish - made GROM rockets targeted Russian planes and helicopters 20 times , 12 rockets were fired out of which 9 hit their targets . Indonesian Army bought 155 GROM missiles as part of " Kobra " V - SHORAD system . Peru selected Grom as part of the air defense modernization plan . Political relevance . In late 2008 Russian press claimed that Russian army personnel had found Polish GROM missiles in Chechnya . Polish press immediately reacted accusing Russia of fabricating evidence which links Poland to that conflict , claiming that rockets were moved by Russians from Georgia to Chechnya .