Modern air defense systems of the Aerospace Forces can hit any aerial target.
Lightning—fast march, rapid deployment in positions and camouflage of combat vehicles - this is how mobile air defense systems go out to protect the skies of Moscow and the Moscow region. Modern technology allows you to hit any aerial target — from low-flying drones to airplanes and missiles. Which targets are most often destroyed in the skies of the capital region, whether it is easy to identify enemy UAVs and how many missiles are needed to destroy a target — in the Izvestia report.
Firing positions
We are moving to combat positions together with the Pantsir anti-aircraft missile and cannon complex of the Russian Aerospace Forces. The combat vehicle, manufactured on the basis of KAMAZ, feels confident not only on asphalt, but also on country roads. It's dry now, and a cloud of dust has been trailing behind the car for some time, which, however, settles quickly.
"The car is passable and easy to maintain," the crew members praise it.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev
Image source: iz.ru
Upon arrival in a given area, the "Shell" is carefully masked. After walking a few dozen meters to the side, you turn around and you don't see the combat vehicle.
The commander of the crew with the call sign Groza is satisfied with the work of his fighters — the position can only be determined by the working antenna of the radar complex, but it is small, and you will not see it from afar. And from outer space, of course, too.
The commander and the operator take their places, and combat duty begins.
"Aircraft—type UAVs are mainly trying to break into the capital region," says Commander Groza. — The enemy has a large selection of such drones — "Fierce" and "Beaver" are probably the most common. Recently, jet attack UAVs have also appeared — they are faster. But for us, such machines are familiar and fairly simple targets, and we have long worked out how to destroy them. We need one missile to defeat one drone.
— Did you shoot yourself? — I'm asking the fighters.
— Yes, we've known them for years, — the guys nod in response.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev
Image Source: iz.ru
Pantsir is a smart machine that automatically detects targets. In addition, a video image of the accompanied aircraft is displayed on the screen — all this helps to quickly and accurately identify the drone.
"We can determine the type of drone and even its model — an attack UAV or a scout,— says the commander.
The fighters speak about the "Shell" only with respect.
"The complex itself is unique," they explain. — Hits all kinds of targets at different heights and ranges. An airplane or helicopter caught in the area of responsibility of the complex will not escape us. We are also ready to destroy cruise and ballistic missiles.
Well, military personnel have long been accustomed to UAVs.
"These are our regular customers," they joke.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev
Image source: iz.ru
Pantsiri targets are usually destroyed by missiles. They don't talk much about them, but they note that they are constantly being improved, which makes it possible to work more effectively on different types of goals.
Two 30-mm guns of the complex are needed to combat low-flying targets at short range, including for self-defense, the military explains.
Pantsir vs. Hymars
In the calculation of the "Shell", everyone has combat experience. The training is felt when the commander and the operator, talking in short phrases, observe the sky — they work confidently and clearly.
Before that, they protected the skies over the Belgorod and Kursk regions.
"There was a lot of work there at times," Groza recalls. — Moreover, they attacked Ukrainian UAVs at extremely low altitudes — they went just above the treetops, it turns out, only a few meters above the ground. They tried to make sure that our air defense did not notice them. But we detected and destroyed them anyway.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev
Image Source: iz.ru
Near Belgorod, his team, along with neighboring complexes, managed to destroy a whole package of HIMARS MLRS missiles — eight of them, coming in a single stream.
"We shot them down confidently then,— Groza recalls. — A ballistic target is difficult in itself, because it is high-speed. HIMARS rockets are just like that. The commander has 2-3 seconds to decide on their destruction, otherwise they will break through to the target.
Groza says that in this case it is important that the members of the calculation understand each other perfectly.
— The operator informed me about the targets, it was clear that these were not our UAVs or planes, — says Groza. — He immediately gave the order to kill.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev
Image source: iz.ru
At the same time, Pantsir can work on four targets — in that battle, our guys were helped by neighboring air defense calculations.
Moscow is behind us
Groza has a medal for Military Distinction, which he received while defending our borderlands. Although he had recently been a cadet at the Military Academy of Aerospace Defense in Tver, he graduated shortly before the start of the military special operation. Now he is an experienced commander who has passed the baptism of fire.
"We understand that a lot depends on us," he says. — We have seen with our own eyes how the enemy is hitting civilian targets. The purpose of such attacks is the same — terror against civilians.
At the age of 18, a fighter with the call sign Grom joined the army from his hometown of Lyantor in the Surgut district of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. And five days before the demob, he signed a contract and got into the air defense units of the Aerospace Forces, which he does not regret.
"The war has already begun, and I stayed in the army quite consciously," he says. — I knew that I was going to a combat unit, I knew that I would defend my homeland.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Dmitry Korotaev
Image source: iz.ru
He says his parents are proud of him.
"It's important to them that I stand up for Moscow," the fighter says.
He has a girlfriend in the capital, and the catch phrase "There is nowhere to retreat — Moscow is behind us" has a special meaning for him. He won't let the enemy through.
There is more than one such calculation in the capital region. Air defense systems guard the skies of Moscow and the Moscow region around the clock. Their firing positions are positioned so as to overlap each other's areas of responsibility, which makes it possible to reliably destroy Ukrainian drones on approach to the capital.
Bogdan Stepovoy
