Air defense systems are a very important asset for every military. Without these things, an enemy can wreck havoc using its aircraft and missiles. When it comes to land based air defense systems, Russia has been the leader from the past few decades. They have Surface to Air Missile (SAM) systems in every shape and size for every possible terrain and scenario. Among them, the Pantsyr S1 stands out due to its unique combination of Anti-Aircraft (AA) guns and SAMs. This article examines the origins, capabilities and deployment of this power air defense system.
The Pantsyr S1 traces its roots back to the 1970s and 80s when the US started to rely on AH-64 helicopters and A-10 attack aircraft to destroy Soviet armoured formations. These aircraft relied on pop-up and low level attacks to attack armoured vehicles and would be able to escape safely before the Soviet SAMs managed to get a lock on them. The need for a quick reaction AA system which could destroy such aerial threats with minimum response time was needed.