October 10, 2013: Russia is developing a version of its Pantsir-S1 mobile anti-aircraft system for use on ships. The first of these is to be in service by 2015. A year later Russia expects to be testing a major upgrade Pantsir, for use in both the truck mounted and shipboard versions. This version would apparently be better able to deal with anti-ship missiles.

Pantsir-S1 is a further development of the Cold War era 2K22 (SA-19). The SA-19 was mounted on a tracked armored vehicle and was developed in the 1970s, to replace mobile 23mm autocannon anti-aircraft systems. Pantsir-S1 uses the latest computer and missile technology and fixes many of the performance and reliability problems the SA-19 suffered from and is mounted in a wheeled vehicle.

Each Pantsir-S1 vehicle carries radar, two 30mm cannon, twelve Tunguska missiles, and has a crew of three. The 90 kg (198 pound) missiles have a 20 kilometer range, the radar a 30 kilometer range. The missile can hit targets at up to 8,400 meters (26,000 feet). The 30mm cannon is effective up to 3,200 meters (10,000 feet). The type of vehicle varies, but the most common one carrying all this is the KamAZ-6560, a 37 ton 8x8 truck that can carry up to 20 tons. Each Pantsir-S1 vehicle costs about $15 million. The navy version would be used on smaller warships and integrated into the central fire control system. The naval version would basically be a turret mounted version of the missile launchers and 30mm guns. The ship version would probably receive its targeting data from the ship’s radar.

The army version of Pantsir-S1 is organized into batteries, with each such unit consisting of 6 Pantsir-S1 vehicles, 3 ammo resupply vehicles, 4 maintenance and spare parts vehicles, and a mobile trainer (containing a computerized Pantsir-S1 simulator to help maintain operator skills). The ship version would have ammo resupply handled by the ship ammo storage system and maintenance tasks assigned to the crew responsible for weapons and electronics. The simulator would become part of the ship’s weapons simulation/trainer system, something that is becoming common for most navies.