Russian troops to get Arctic version of Pantsir anti-aircraft system.

The first Arctic set of the Pantsir-SA anti-aircraft missile and gun systems will enter the troops in 2019, in the coming days it will be released for testing, according to Deputy Defence Minister Alexey Krivoruchko.

Pantsir-SA seen on April 21st, 2017, during the rehearsal in Alabino of 2017 for the Victory Day Parade (Picture source: Vitaly Kuzmin)

The Pantsir-SA is a new Russian-made, short-range air defense missile system using the Pantsir-S1 weapon station. The system is especially designed to be used for Arctic region. It is based on the chassis of the DT-30PM tracked all-terrain vehicle which consists of two tracked vehicle units linked by a steering mechanism. The second vehicle is used to carried the Pantsir-S1 weapon station. The Pantsir-SA was unveiled during the rehearsal for the Russian Victory Day Parade 2017, in April 2017. According to the Russian newspaper website Sputnik, the Russian army has received the first samples of Pantsir-SA at the end of 2016.

On 18 January 2019, the Deputy Head of the Military Department visited a subsidiary of Shcheglovsky Val manufacturer of the Pantsir), where he heard reports from managers and designers on promising developments of the enterprise. In addition, during his visit to the enterprise, the Deputy Defence Minister inspected the progress of work on the serial production of the Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile and gun systems, as well as the Berezhok and Bakhcha-U combat stations to equip the infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) and airborne assault vehicle. Krivoruchko also inspected the Kornet and Arkan anti-tank missiles, 30-mm automatic cannons and small arms.