Russia's 'Pantsir' Beast Can Take Down a Squadron of US Aircraft

Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has seemingly “neglected” the development of close-in defense systems. However, Russia – their main rival – is extremely active in this field. The “Pantsir” beast is the result of that activity.

Pantsir self-propelled air defense missile-gun complex.

Pantsir is a self-propelled anti-aircraft missile-gun system mounted on an eight-wheeled truck. The heart of this system is 12 SA-22 “Greyhound” surface-to-air missiles and two 2A38M 30 mm twin-barrel guns - more powerful than Russia's previous tactical defense system, the 2S6 Tunguska.

Dubbed the "beast", Pantsir-S1 is designed to detect and destroy all airborne targets such as airplanes, helicopters, guided bombs or cruise missiles flying at altitudes from 5 m to 15 km within a range of 200 m to 20 km in just 5 seconds.

On the battlefield, just one Pantsir complex is enough to shoot down an entire squadron of F/A-18 Hornets of the US Navy/Marine Corps. Not only that, some upgraded versions of Pantsir have a range of nearly 40 km - equal to many precision-guided bombs that the US military currently has.

Currently, Pantsir is a star in the arms market thanks to its effectiveness. Many countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Syria have ordered these complexes. If combined with the S-400 long-range missile defense complex, this will be a serious threat to US fighter jets.

According to Danviet