The Ronin
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Criticisms have been leveled against the Pantsir AA platform since at least one Syrian battery was destroyed during an Israeli raid on the 20th of January. It was at least the second Greyhound battery attacked and destroyed by the Israelis in the past 12 months (the exact number could be 3). The criticisms and mockery come after it was revealed that the Pantsir battery might have been destroyed by a SkyStriker drone. The Skystriker is a kamikaze drone. It is simple and inexpensive, slow and has a short range. Everything you would expect a top of the range point defence system such as the Pantsir to detect and destroy easily.
But should you ?
The Pantsir has been performing well in the anti missile role for the Syrians. In actual fact, both Syrians and Israelis have praised the platform and the IAF has actually had to adapt its tactics when attacking Iranian positions in Damascus due to this very reasons (ultiple waves of attack/missiles to overwhelm the systems and deplete them of their missiles).
However, The Pantsir has been known to performing badly against drones. The Russian base of Hmeimim has been on the receiving end of at least 3 drone attacks in 2018 with an additional one reported earlier on this month. During those attacks, the Pantsir was found to be near enough useless against those slow moving objects. In fact, it was reported that the Pantsir S1 platforms defending Hmeimin against those drone swarm attacks only achieved a paltry 19% hit success rate against those targets ! So much so that the Russians brought in the Tor M2 platform to defend their airbase from such attacks. The switch seems to have had great results as the Tor M2 batteries apparently scored an 80% hit rate on subsequent drone attacks.
Word on the grapevine was that the Pantsir radar is easily spooked by slow moving objects, even sometimes by birds, and regularly fails to successfully track, lock and engage said slow moving objects.
In the case of the Israeli raid of the 20th of January, it seems the Israelis had done their homework and wanted to test this theory for good. And it seems that the those stories were right. On the video released by the Israeli Defence ministry, you see the Pantsir launch two missiles at the incoming kamikaze drone... And you clearly see both missiles go wide and miss, just before the drone impacts on the battery and destroys it.
So... Does this make the Pantsir S1 a bad system ? Well, it rather makes it a specialised vehicle. The Greyhound was designed for point defence of strategic locations, such as bases, missiles silos and S-300/S-400 batteries. As such, the Pantsir was designed from the ground up to engage precision guided weapons that would engage those S-300/S-400 batteries. We are talking here about a whole range of missiles, including cruise missiles and ARMs. The whole sensor suite of the Pantsir is geared up to detect, track and engage objects flying at speeds of up to 1000 meters per second. That is maybe why it seems to be reasonably good at downing top of the range Israeli missiles but so bad at downing $100 plastic drones...
Keep in mind the system was designed before the emergence of cheap commercially available drones used for attacks as seen in the past 5 years in Ukraine, Iraq and Syria. Those drones, whether used to spy on the enemy or to launch pinpoint attacks, are slowly revolutionising warfare and all the developed countries are trying to adapt to the situation.
What about the Tor-M2 ? Well, the Tor was designed to protect columns of tanks and convoys on the move. As such, it is geared up to engage low flying helicopters and aircraft flying at speeds of up to 700 m/s. The platform is optimized against small-sized maneuvering targets.
But should you ?
The Pantsir has been performing well in the anti missile role for the Syrians. In actual fact, both Syrians and Israelis have praised the platform and the IAF has actually had to adapt its tactics when attacking Iranian positions in Damascus due to this very reasons (ultiple waves of attack/missiles to overwhelm the systems and deplete them of their missiles).
However, The Pantsir has been known to performing badly against drones. The Russian base of Hmeimim has been on the receiving end of at least 3 drone attacks in 2018 with an additional one reported earlier on this month. During those attacks, the Pantsir was found to be near enough useless against those slow moving objects. In fact, it was reported that the Pantsir S1 platforms defending Hmeimin against those drone swarm attacks only achieved a paltry 19% hit success rate against those targets ! So much so that the Russians brought in the Tor M2 platform to defend their airbase from such attacks. The switch seems to have had great results as the Tor M2 batteries apparently scored an 80% hit rate on subsequent drone attacks.
Word on the grapevine was that the Pantsir radar is easily spooked by slow moving objects, even sometimes by birds, and regularly fails to successfully track, lock and engage said slow moving objects.
In the case of the Israeli raid of the 20th of January, it seems the Israelis had done their homework and wanted to test this theory for good. And it seems that the those stories were right. On the video released by the Israeli Defence ministry, you see the Pantsir launch two missiles at the incoming kamikaze drone... And you clearly see both missiles go wide and miss, just before the drone impacts on the battery and destroys it.
So... Does this make the Pantsir S1 a bad system ? Well, it rather makes it a specialised vehicle. The Greyhound was designed for point defence of strategic locations, such as bases, missiles silos and S-300/S-400 batteries. As such, the Pantsir was designed from the ground up to engage precision guided weapons that would engage those S-300/S-400 batteries. We are talking here about a whole range of missiles, including cruise missiles and ARMs. The whole sensor suite of the Pantsir is geared up to detect, track and engage objects flying at speeds of up to 1000 meters per second. That is maybe why it seems to be reasonably good at downing top of the range Israeli missiles but so bad at downing $100 plastic drones...
Keep in mind the system was designed before the emergence of cheap commercially available drones used for attacks as seen in the past 5 years in Ukraine, Iraq and Syria. Those drones, whether used to spy on the enemy or to launch pinpoint attacks, are slowly revolutionising warfare and all the developed countries are trying to adapt to the situation.
What about the Tor-M2 ? Well, the Tor was designed to protect columns of tanks and convoys on the move. As such, it is geared up to engage low flying helicopters and aircraft flying at speeds of up to 700 m/s. The platform is optimized against small-sized maneuvering targets.
