Source: "Pantsir-SM" with a double supply of missiles will be delivered to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation this year
At the forum "Engineers of the Future" in Tula, a presentation of a new version of the Russian anti-aircraft complex "Pantsir-SM" was held. It is distinguished from previous modifications by an increased number of missiles. "Newspaper.Ru" understood the features of the new version of the "Shell".
In the very name of the "Pantsir-S1" and the subsequent modification of the "Pantsir-SM" there is an abbreviation ZRPK, which means "anti-aircraft missile gun system", that is, this system is capable of firing at air targets with both highly maneuverable 57E6E missiles (a range of up to 20 km) and two paired 30-mm anti-aircraft 2A38M guns with a rate of fire of up to 2500 rounds per minute.
The updated version of the Pantsir-SM anti-aircraft complex provides for the placement of 24 missiles instead of the previous 12, which the designers of the Instrument Engineering Design Bureau JSC (KBP, part of Rostec Corporation) managed to achieve by abandoning the cannon component. Also, the new version of the complex received the prefix "TBM" (transport and combat vehicle), which implies autonomous transportation of ammunition and their mobile reloading.
In addition, the updated Pantsir received a new multifunctional guidance station for air targets, which was created on the basis of a free-form inertial navigation system (BINS), which allows detecting them at a range of up to 75 km. The rocket launcher has become a combined one: it can be equipped with missiles, both for destroying high-speed targets, and for slower-moving ones - helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles.
The representative of Rostec also said that the new "Shells" will not completely replace the existing complexes that are in service and have proven their effectiveness. At the same time, new developments will be used in all variants of the produced "Shells", such as a radar with an active phased antenna and rockets with increased speed.
The new "Shell" has not yet been tested in real combat operations, but the interlocutor of the "Newspaper.Rostec claims that this complex will enter service with the Russian army this year.
Adopted by the Russian Army back in 2008, the Pantsir missile defense system has undergone many upgrades and now exists in various modifications. There are complexes on a wheelbase, there are on a tracked one, in the marine version it is "Pantsir-M", which is designed for small rocket ships.
The first successful use of the Pantsir anti-aircraft missile and cannon complex occurred in Syria. In total, Russia has supplied about forty complexes to the government of Bashar al-Assad (excluding those located at Russian bases in Khmeimim and Tartus).
"The Pantsir missile defense system has passed combat tests in Syria, which made it possible to carry out a number of significant changes in this complex," he told the newspaper.Ru" former military adviser of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the Syrian army, reserve Colonel Anatoly Matveychuk. - This is a real experience with combat use, it is difficult to get such an experience at training grounds for training purposes. It turned out that the complex should counteract a number of aerial targets, from small-sized drones to high-speed missiles. And with this task, as can be seen from the reports, they coped quite successfully. It is no coincidence that the emphasis is now on strengthening the missile component, some of which are focused on missile defense, and some on drones."
Separately, Colonel Matveychuk stressed that the "Shells" of all modifications demonstrated "extraordinary effectiveness" during the special operation in Ukraine.
Victor Sokirko
