Photo: Man-Portable Air Defense System Missile Prepared for Destruction

A foreign affairs officer with the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs displays a foreign Man-Portable Air Defense System missile in its tube that has been prepared carefully for destruction--one of the 30,000 MANPADS that the United States has helped other countries destroy since 2003 in order to prevent them from falling into the hands of arms traffickers, criminals, and terrorists who could use them to threaten civil aviation. To learn more about the United States' successful efforts to work with other countries to reduce the potential threat from these light anti-aircraft missiles and related systems, visit www.state.gov/t/pm/wra. [Photo courtesy of Dave Diaz, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement.]