The Russian air defense system Pantsir-S1 is a very expensive and a very important tool for the Russian forces in Ukraine and around it. It has been in service since 2012 and is being exported and produced for their own needs at a steady pace. The Russian Armed Forces received several Pantsir systems in 2023 as well, despite the ongoing war in Ukraine. But they lost a lot of them too.
The Pantsir-S1 is estimated to cost 10-15 million dollars. Image credit: Vitaly V. Kuzmin via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The Pantsir-S1 is a medium-range air defense missile system. Russia uses them to hunt down Ukrainian drones, planes and helicopters. There were moments when Pantsir launchers were placed on the roofs of buildings of important institutions in Moscow to cover them from potential drone attacks.
The Pantsir air defense systems appeared in Ukraine at the very beginning of the invasion on February 24 2022. The Pantsir-S1 is highly mobile, which means that it goes into battle together with other heavy equipment. In the beginning, Pantsir-S1 missiles hunted Bayraktar drones and defended huge Russian columns. As early as March 2022, the defenders of Ukraine captured at least one Pantsir-S1 launcher, which was reportedly later destroyed.
The Pantsir system consists of three different types of vehicles – the launchers, which are the most expensive and important targets, the radar truck and the command post.
Pantsir-S1 systems are still being used in Ukraine, but Russia uses them to protect its own border regions, where they predict drone and, possibly, even cruise missile attacks. For example, Pantsir systems are stationed in the Belgorod region. The Russians heard their work this year already, when at the beginning of January, after a large Russian missile attack in Ukraine, a number of drones appeared over Belgorod.
Now Ukrainian intelligence reported another successful raid in the Belgorod region of Russia. Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate revealed that it recently destroyed two Pantsir-S1 launchers in the Belgorod region with precision drone strikes.
Another special Ukrainian intelligence operation aimed at weakening Russian capabilities was completed on Saturday, January 6. And those capabilities have been weakened – it will be more difficult for the Russians to shoot down Ukrainian drones and missiles flying towards military targets in the territory of Russia.
Two Pantsir-S1 systems were burned by drones in the Belgorod region. It is said that the price of one such system is approximately 10-15 million dollars.
Ukraine can and should attack Russian military assets in Russia. Russia chose to start this war and its citizens need to understand that their entire territory can be a target now. That was the decision of the Russian government.
Written by Povilas M.
Sources: Ukrinform.net, Wikipedia