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Russia’s shield renewed by Greyhound
Published: 20 March, 2010, 04:19
Edited: 05 May, 2010, 03:45
The cutting-edge weaponry known as the “Greyhound” boasts mobility and accuracy, traits that have made it popular with the United Arab Emirates and Syria, with Algeria set to follow.
A dozen new air defense systems will soon be the latest addition to Russia's military might.
Codenamed by NATO the “Greyhound,” the Pantsir-S1 is a formidable combination of anti-aircraft guns and surface-to-air missiles designed to locate and hunt down most types of flying threats.
It is armed with 12 guided missiles and its two twin 30mm guns can each fire up to 2,500 rounds per minute.
Chief Developer Igor Stepanichev says Russia’s latest war machine is truly unique.
“No other air defense system in the world is armed with both guns and missiles. This and its ability to track and hunt down several targets simultaneously make it truly one of a kind,” Stepanichev told RT.
The “Greyhound” can be mounted on trucks, tracks or stationed.
 Pantsir S1 crawling traction |
The key difference between this machine and other anti-aircraft systems is that it can lock onto targets flying from as low as 5 meters above ground to around 10 miles high and up to 13 miles away. This makes the “Greyhound” a serious threat to helicopters, spy planes and missiles.
Development began in the 1990s, mainly with money from the United Arab Emirates – which has signed a deal to buy 50 of them.
Russia plans to get 25 units before the end of 2012.
 Different modification |
However, the “Greyhound” should not be viewed as the basis of Russia’s air defense, but rather as a small – though very advanced – addition to the face-lift the armed forces are currently undergoing.
Now the fresh-out-of-the-factory giants start their journey to Moscow, where they will take part in the Victory Day parade on May 9.
19.03.2010, 20:06
1 comment
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Comments, Soviet/Russian aircraft designs have generally had superior characteristics compared with NATO aircraft. The main difference, however is that Western aircraft have always had superior avionics systems.
This system does appear to be a effective means of shooting down drones which the American military has used with great publicity over Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Soon the drones will start carrying chaff to deflect the homing missiles and will be accompanied by "Wild Weasel drones", so on and so on. The skies will be full of drones, counter drones; and, the Greyhound AA systems will be trying to shoot them all down. Hopefully, future wars will be fought with minimal spilling of human blood - but, that would take all the fun out of wars for the Rambo-like folks blasting away at Afghans and Iraqis today.
A drones nightmare... and deadly vs. helicopter too. Being able to mount the system almost anywhere and mass produce it in large numbers is great as well.