State-owned defense companies in India and Russia have signed an agreement for Moscow’s Pantsir air defense missile-gun (ADMG) system. The agreement was signed in western India’s Goa state earlier this month by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), a company under the Indian Ministry of Defence that produces guided missile systems, and Russia’s Rosoboronexport, part of the Rostec defense corporation.
The two companies will jointly develop new variants of ADMG that are better suited to India’s needs. BDL will also localize the manufacturing of Pantsir systems in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government’s “Make in India” initiative.
Pantsir and its key features
The Pantsir S1 missile gun system is designed to protect vital military areas, industrial targets, and land force units. It is also used to protect troops and military installations against precision-guided air attacks from low and extremely low altitudes.
The ADMG is designed for both standalone and integrated operations with other air defence systems and is said to provide extensive coverage against large-scale aerial attacks. It can neutralize aerial threats flying at speeds of up to 1,000 miles per second, including drones and helicopters, and functions effectively even in electronic warfare conditions.
Here are the specifications in more detail:
- The ADMG multi-range radar is capable of detecting aerial threats (targets) at a distance of more than 30 km and tracking them down from a distance of over 24 km.
- Its missiles can engage tactical aircraft at a maximum range of 20 km and altitude of 10 km, subsonic cruise missiles at a range of 12 km and altitude of 6 km, and high-speed air-to-ground missiles at a range of 7 km and altitude of 6 km.
- With its gun weapons, the Pantsir-S1 can destroy aerial targets at a maximum range of 4 km and a maximum altitude of 3 km.
- Pantsir-S1 combat vehicles can fire missiles on the move.
- It can conduct fire at two targets at the same time and attack up to 12 targets within a minute.
- The missile is believed to have a hit probability of 70-95% and has a 15-year storage lifetime in its sealed containers.
- The Pantsir-S1 is able to defeat almost the entire spectrum of air threats, all types of precision-guided weapons, in particular, flying at a speed of up to 1,600 km/s and approaching from different bearings at an angle of 0-10 ° to 60-70°, aircraft flying at a speed of up to 800 km/s, helicopters, remotely piloted vehicles, as well as light armored ground targets and the enemy manpower.
- It has two independent guidance channels – radar and electro-optic – which allow two targets to be engaged simultaneously. The maximum engagement rate is up to 10 targets per minute.
Who else uses Pantsir S1?
Unveiled for the first time in 1995, the Pantsir S1 ADMG has played a critical role in Russia’s war against Ukraine, Russian media report.
Pantsir systems have “performed exceptionally well” in the Ukraine conflict, Russia Today quoted former Russian defense minister Sergey Shoigu as saying earlier this year, adding that deliveries of these would be “expanded nearly twofold” in 2024.
In August, Crimean media also reported satellite images as showing that the ADMG was deployed to defend the Kerch Bridge, a strategically vital structure that connects the region of Crimea to mainland Russia. The bridge serves as a critical supply route for Russia’s forces and is crucial to sustaining Moscow’s military operations in southern Ukraine. Ukraine struck the 19 km road and rail bridge in October 2022 and again in July 2023.
There are also local reports saying how the Pantsir S1 ADMG is also used to offer protection to the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Valdai Lake. Many other Pantsir S1 have also been relocated to the rooftops to strengthen the protection of state buildings as well as defense ministry offices.
Outside of Russia, Pantsir operators also include Algeria, Brazil, Gaza and the West Bank (Hezbollah), Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Syria, the UAE, and Vietnam, according to the Indian think-tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Since 2013, Syria has used Pantsir S1 in its civil war to defend its soldiers and Syrian government forces, CSIS says in a published report. It also mentions the US as having seized a Pantsir S1 out of Libya in 2020.
US reaction
The Pantsir S1 has a NATO code name, SA-22 Greyhound.
In 2020, the US seized an intact Pantsir S1 (SA-22) from the Libyan battlefield. According to a January 2021 report by The Times, the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) had captured the system from Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) group after taking over al-Watiya airbase.
However, in a covert operation, a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster transport plane picked up the ADMG, in what was said to be the first-known case of such an operation by the US for Pantsir S1.
Last year, the Washington Institute mentioned in an analytical report that a Pantsir S-1 (SA-22) had apparently been transferred from Wagner Group paramilitary forces in Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
India advantage
For India however, the Pantsir system will offer not only enhanced air defense capabilities but also a strategic tool to counter regional threats.
According to a security assessment report published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in May 2024, India’s security concerns are centered primarily around China’s growing influence in the region.
“India’s primary and long-term strategic challenge has changed from Pakistan and Afghanistan to China, especially following the India-China border skirmish in the Galwan Valley in June 2020,” the report said.
“Defence and security cooperation, in particular, became a useful means for India to strengthen relations with regional governments while drawing its South Asian neighbors closer and thus away from Beijing.”
“India already faces a hostile neighbor on its western border. In the north, China is a major threat. In this geopolitical setting, the kind of relationship India has developed with Bangladesh becomes important,” said Dr Anand Kumar, Associate Fellow at Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) in an earlier book he published.
Notably, after the 2024 upheaval in Bangladesh that led to the ousting of the Hasina government, the eastern border has also become a hotbed for security threats.
While looking at an overall security strategy, India’s move to strengthen its air defense system speaks volumes in its recent deal with Russia.
With adaptability to various terrains and the ability to engage multiple aerial threats simultaneously, the Pantsir is a significant addition to India’s defensive arsenal, enhancing readiness against these regional security challenges.
India’s defense relations with Russia have traditionally been strong, with Russia serving as India’s primary arms supplier. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), between 2019 and 2023, 34% of Russian arms exports went to India, leading to high-profile acquisitions such as the S-400 Triumf air defense systems.
The India-Russia Pantsir S1 agreement further boosts India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India) initiative coming close on the heels of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s visit to India last month during which he and PM Modi inaugurated a facility in Gujarat for the joint manufacturing of the Airbus C-295 medium tactical transport aircraft.
Adopting such a multi-alignment policy, India seeks to preserve strategic ties with Moscow, critical for the modernization of India’s armed forces, while balancing its commitments with other global partners.
