Despite some shortcomings, many armies of the world want to receive the Tula air defense system
October 2012 was a milestone month for the 96K6 Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and cannon complex (ZRPK) developed by the Tula Instrument Design Bureau (KBP). For the first time, these complexes fired in public, hitting a real cruise missile launched from a Tu-95 strategic bomber during an exercise.
Previously, all tests of these air defense systems were carried out exclusively behind closed doors, the results were not made public. The "breakthrough", though still in doubt, the Russian-Iraqi package of arms contracts includes the delivery of 42 Pantsir air defense missile systems. At the same time, this is the most criticized Russian air defense system, the refinement of which is still ongoing, despite the fact that it has long been supplied abroad and in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Started with the program "Roman"
The very history of the creation of the complex is in many ways phenomenal. The Main Armaments Directorate of the Air Defense Forces ordered the KBP to develop the Pantsir-C1 air defense missile system in 1990. Initially, the short-range complex (the Roman program) was intended to cover the S-300 long-range anti-aircraft missile systems and radar stations of the country's air defense system. Subsequently, having received the status of interspecific, the complex was also offered to the Ground Forces to cover motorized rifle units on the march, to destroy infantry and light armored vehicles. A ship version has also been ordered. The complex was created on the basis of the proven and very successful anti-aircraft missile and artillery complex 2K22 "Tunguska".
The first version of the new complex on an automobile chassis (Ural-5323.4) with two 30-mm 2A72 cannons and 9M335 anti-aircraft guided missiles (SAM) (range - 12 km, height - 8 km) was presented to the interdepartmental commission in 1995. Radar 1L36 "Roman" (development "Phazotron-NIIR") worked extremely unsatisfactorily, the complex could not destroy targets beyond 12 kilometers, was unable to fire in active motion. This was followed by a radical reduction in the country's military budget, and the Russian army was not up to the Roman program for a long time.
Emirates miracle
The situation was saved by a unique contract with the United Arab Emirates, which decided to buy in fact the "Munchausen" complex, which had yet to be created. With the total value of the contract signed in May 2000, $ 734 million (50% was paid by the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation to repay the Russian state debt to the UAE) for 50 complexes, an advance for research and development work amounted to $ 100 million. Thus, the development of the complex, which received the name "Pantsir-C1", was carried out at the expense of the customer - an unprecedented case for the Russian defense industry.
The upgraded system received new anti-aircraft guns 2A38M, anti-aircraft guided missiles (SAM) 57E6-E (range of controlled flight - up to 20 km). Due to the failure of Phazotron to create a new multifunctional fire control radar, the KBP had to create the station on its own with the involvement of JSC Ratep. As a result, the delivery time was constantly shifting with the permission of the incredibly patient Emirati side.
According to the agreement, development work was to be completed by 2003, and by the end of 2005, all 50 complexes (24 on a wheeled chassis, 26 on a tracked chassis) were planned to be transferred in three batches (12, 24 and 14). But only in 2007, the UAE received the first cars, the implementation of the contract has been delayed until now. According to official data, it should be completed by the end of this year. All air defense missile systems are installed on a wheeled platform of a German MAN truck. Plus, 1,500 9M311 missiles have been delivered to them.
Other foreign contracts
In 2006, Russia and Syria signed a contract for the purchase of 36 Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile-gun systems and 850 9M311 missiles worth about $ 730 million. Deliveries were carried out from 2008 to 2011. In 2006, Algeria signed a contract (price - $ 500 million) with Rosoboronexport for the purchase of 38 combat vehicles of the modified Pantsir-S1 air defense missile system on the KamAZ-6560 wheeled chassis and 900 9M311 missiles. The first deliveries of combat vehicles to Algeria were apparently completed in early 2012. The Western press claims that at least two "Pantsir" are in service with the air defense forces of Slovenia. In addition, according to Western data, Syria re-exported 10 Pantsir-C1 complexes to Iran. Damascus and Tehran refute this information with enviable persistence.
Morocco, Jordan and Oman announced the possible purchase of the Pantsir-C1 air defense missile system. In February 2008, during a visit to Moscow by Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, a large (approximately $ 4 billion) package of possible military orders from Riyadh was discussed. Along with the long-range anti-aircraft missile systems (ZRS) S-400 Triumph and Antey-2500 (an export deeply modernized version of the S-300V air defense missile system), BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, T-90S tanks, Mi-17 military helicopters, Mi-35 and Mi-26, the purchase of the Pantsir-S1 systems was also considered. Triumph, Antey-2500 and Pantsir would collectively provide the Saudis with a guaranteed unified system of integrated non-strategic missile and air defense. As a representative of the Russian military-industrial complex, who is well aware of the situation, told the author, although the large Saudi package of defense contracts no longer exists for a number of objective reasons, negotiations on its individual segments are still ongoing, including the Pantsir, and nevertheless, there is some hope that they will end with a positive result.
Forty percent of Saudi Arabia's military imports are American weapons, and the United States is working hard to keep Russia out of this richest arms market. Roughly the same situation has developed with the large Iraqi contract concluded in October 2012 (cost - $ 4.2 billion), which included the supply of 30 Mi-28N Night Hunter attack helicopters and 42 Pantsir-S1 air defense missile systems (2, 2 billion dollars).
After signing the preliminary agreement, the Iraqi leadership unexpectedly decided to revise the terms of the deal, citing the need to avoid possible corruption issues during its implementation. The background of the precedent is undoubtedly political. The Shiite government of the country, trying to pursue an independent policy, including in the field of military-technical cooperation (MTC), nevertheless has to correlate all its decisions with the opinion of the United States, which persistently pushes Ukraine into the Iraqi arms market as a priority partner in MTC from countries of the former Soviet Union. However, firstly, Ukraine does not produce such high-tech air defense systems. Secondly, the confidence of world arms importers in the Ukrainian defense industry has been finally undermined by the failure of the deadline for the fulfillment of the contract signed in 2009 for the supply of 420 BTR-4 armored personnel carriers to Iraq for a total of $ 457.5 million, which is financed by the United States. Deliveries began in March 2011, but so far the Iraqi side has received only 88 vehicles from the Ukrainians.
the main objective
The main feature of the Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and gun system is the combination of a wide-channel system for capturing and tracking targets with installed weapons. The area of interception of targets at a height of five meters - 15 kilometers, at a distance of 200 meters - 20 kilometers. The complex is designed on a modular basis and can be installed on wheeled and tracked chassis, on stationary platforms. A battery of six complexes can operate in automatic mode via a digital network.
The combat module of one air defense missile system (30 tons) consists of two blocks with six 57E6-E anti-aircraft guided missiles and two twin 2A38M double-barreled guns. A phased detection radar, a target and missile tracking radar complex and an optoelectronic fire control channel have been installed. The complex is capable of simultaneously "capturing" four air objects - cruise missiles, combat helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles. But in fact, the main target of the "Shell" is the American Tomahawk Block 4 cruise missiles of the US Navy. The upgraded Tomahawk Block 4 entered service in 2004 and have the ability to reprogram while moving towards the target, which makes them extremely difficult to detect. A new Tomahawk - Cruise Missile XR weighing 2, 2 tons (the warhead weighs a ton) and a range of two thousand kilometers is being developed. The design uses the "Stealth" technology.
In a minute interval, "Shell" can "capture" up to ten targets. The command of the complex is a commander and two operators. Deployment time is five minutes. Threat response time is five seconds. Ammunition - 12 anti-aircraft guided missiles and 1, 4 thousand ammunition for guns (rate of fire - five thousand rounds per minute). The detection range is 36 kilometers. Missile guidance is radio command. The estimated cost of the Pantsir-C1 complex is $ 13-15 million (the last figure for export samples).
Serving the Fatherland
The Russian Armed Forces have received only 10 Pantsir-S1 systems so far. All of them are distributed among the anti-aircraft missile brigades of the aerospace defense (VKO) to cover the S-400 strategic air-missile defense (air defense-missile defense) systems. Now the Russian army has four S-400 regiments, of which two are deployed in the Moscow region, one in the Baltic Fleet and one in the Far East (Nakhodka). The fifth regimental set is to be handed over to the Armed Forces by the end of 2012 and deployed in the Southern Military District.
In a truncated form (and probably already finally standard), now the S-400 two-division anti-aircraft missile regiment, in fact, consists of two S-400 complexes. To protect one battalion on close approaches, you need a short-range air defense system - Pantsir-S1. Thus, while the needs of the army in this complex are temporarily satisfied. Five regiments - ten complexes. However, the deployment of S-400 regiments will continue, they are the basis of the country's air defense and missile defense umbrella. And the newest S-500 complexes are on the way. The KBP leadership declares that the Air Force of the Russian Federation has ordered 100 "Pants".
This year, according to the former First Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Sukhorukov, another 28 Pantsir-S1 air defense missile systems were to enter the troops. Officially, these deliveries have not been confirmed. As the representative of the Russian defense-industrial complex told the author, "Pantsir", according to military estimates, in its current state does not meet the requirements stated in the tactical-technical assignment. However, it is a strong and symbolic system capable of progressive development. It is necessary to work closely with her. Moreover, it has enormous potential. And this is well felt by potential customers.
In the summer of 2011, the head of the KBP design unit, Alexander Zhukov, said that in the near future, the Navy will receive a new anti-aircraft missile and artillery system, code-named Pantsir-M (sea). Pantsir-M should replace the Kortik complexes. But, according to him, the fleet will receive this complex no earlier than in three years.
There are claims
The opinions of the military as a whole are reflected in the report "Assessment of the general characteristics of the Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile-gun system" that got on the Internet (his theses were confirmed to the author by at least three officers, one way or another connected with the test program of the Pantsir-S1 air defense missile system).
There is no engine in the sustainer stage of the bicaliber missile of the complex, which leads to an increase in its guidance errors at an actively maneuvering target with a course parameter of more than three kilometers. In general, tests have shown that "Pantsir-C1" is incapable of hitting targets flying at speeds of more than 400 meters per second, although the tactical and technical characteristics of the complex indicate a speed equal to 1000 meters per second.
The defeat of the target is guaranteed only with the direct movement of the airborne object to the "Pantsir", both when aiming an anti-aircraft guided missile using the "three points" method, and when half-straightened. Thus, the target can only be hit “in ideal conditions”. Any actions of the enemy - jamming, maneuvering during an attack, the use of low-flying targets and drones will remain unanswered. In addition, the target detection range will be seriously reduced under the influence of meteorological conditions - rain and fog.
