Article Posted on : - Sep 20, 2012

The Pantsir Air Defence system. A KBP Photo.

MOSCOW (BNS): The second batch of Pantsir-S air defence systems will be delivered to the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces by November this year, the Ministry of Defence has said.

Russian news agency Ria Novosti quoting a Defence Ministry spokesman said, the second delivery is expected in September-October this year.

Pantsir-S is a short-to-medium range combined surface-to-air missile and antiaircraft artillery system designed to protect point and area targets.

It carries up to 12 two-stage solid-fuel surface-to-air missiles in sealed ready-to-launch containers and has two dual 30 mm automatic cannons that can engage targets at a range of up to 4 km.

Its main purpose is to protect S-400 Triumf air defence systems at their deployment sites from enemy air and missile strikes, the official said.

The first batch of the Pantsir-S air defence systems was delivered to the Russian military in 2011. Orders have been placed for 100 Pantsir-S units for the Aerospace Defence Forces, which are expected to be delivered in the next few years.

The export version of the system, Pantsir-S1, has been sold to the United Arab Emirates, Syria and Algeria, the report said.