In Syria and Libya, Turkish drones reportedly destroyed around 1 Pantsir SXNUMX anti-aircraft systems

Commissioned in the early 2010s, the Russian Pantsir-S1 medium-range anti-aircraft defense system quickly presented itself as a formidable opponent for any air force. Particularly complete, mobile and economical to purchase, the Pantsir-S1 could be purchased in large quantities and represented a small bubble of protection against any air vector: plane, drone, missiles, helicopters.

In any case, this is how its designer, the KBP design office, has long presented the Pantsir S1, heir to a long tradition of mobile air defense systems. In recent months, however, operational realities have overtaken commercial discourse. Widely engaged in Syria and in the Libyan theater of operations, the Pantsir S1 recently encountered a formidable opponent: the Turkish tactical drone Bayraktar TB2.

In the space of just a few months, the Turkish Air Force is indeed claiming the destruction of 23 Pantsir systems : eight in Syria, and fifteen in Libya. If these figures are naturally disputed by the Russian authorities, many videos testify to the destruction or disablement of at least a dozen Pantsir-S1 of at least two different types. This implies that at least some of them are indeed models delivered to the United Arab Emirates and used in support of Marshal Haftar's forces in Libya, as we saw in a previous file.

Designed in the early 2000s, the Pantsir-S1 system is the heir of the famous 2K22 Tunguska. During the 1970s, the Soviet forces set out to replace their no less famous 23mm ZSU-23-4 guns with an air defense system based around a more powerful 30mm caliber.

Like the ZSU-23-4, the 2K22 Tunguska is a mobile artillery system generally based on a tracked chassis. However, the 2K22 Tunguska innovated at the time by integrating, in addition to its 30 mm guns, eight short-range anti-aircraft missiles (8 to 10 km). Particularly widespread in the Soviet Union and with its allies, the Tunguska is a real commercial and operational success.

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