The Russian army wants a less-troubled, more advanced and cost-effective air defense system to replace the Pantsir (SA-22 Greyhound in NATO designation), either land- or ship-based.

Pantsir-S1 demonstrated at Army 2018 near Kubinka (Picture source: Army Recognition)

According to anonymous and, hence, unconfirmed sources in the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Russian Army and Navy are dissatisfied with the Pantsir air defense system and, consequently, are looking for new systems.

For the army, the Pantsir-S1 air defense system proved too heavy, complex and not effective to protect against most of the potential threats. The Syrian campaign has revealed a number of technical flaws of the Pantsir-S1 which even took direct hits during an Israeli airstrike with impunity. Pantsir’s radar can’t keep up with acquisition and tracking of small size targets, like drones and precision munitions. Currently, attempts are being made to develop a new advanced version for the air force, called Pantsir-SM, benefiting from upgraded electronics and radar, and new missiles. Its funding is said to come from selling the existing version of “troubled” air defense systems abroad at a low price.

To protect the ships in the coastal zone and in harbors, the new Pantsir-M, rather recently unveiled, is regarded as too expensive and not effective enough against some threats.

Pantsir-M unveiled at IDEX 2019 in Abu Dhabi (Picture source: Army Recognition)