Article Posted on : - Sep 12, 2013

The ground version of the Pantsir. Photo: KBP Instrument Design Bureau.

MOSCOW (BNS): Russian Navy is planning to arm its warships with the naval variant of the Pantsir air defence system in the near future.

"The defence ministry has shown great interest in the naval variant of Pantsir and was decided to modernise navy's several warships to arm with this system," Dmitry Konoplev, MD of KBP Instrument Design Bureau, was quoted as saying in the RIA Novosti news report.

The Pantsir short-range air defence system is designed for air defence of small military and administrative-industrial objects and areas against aircrafts, helicopters, cruise missiles and high-precision weapons, guided air bombs and unmanned aerial vehicles as well as for reinforcement of AD groups during repulse of massive air strikes and ensuring of engagement of lightly-armoured targets.

The specific feature of the Pantsir-S1 system is the combination of a multiple-band target acquisition and tracking system in conjunction with a combined missile and gun armament creating a continuous target engagement zone from 5 m height and 200 m range up to 10 km height and 20 km range, even without any external support.