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“The new Pantsir-SMD-E is designed to protect stationary objects from air attack weapons, including massive drone attacks…the system can carry 48 short-range missiles. These are effective and inexpensive munitions that reliably protect against small drones, and, figuratively speaking, allow you not to shoot sparrows with a cannon.” — Bekkhan Ozdoyev, director of the arms branch of the Rostec State Corporation.
The very latest, modular Pantsir-SMD air defense missile system was initially unveiled at the Army-2024 exhibition in Russia, and its Pantsir-SMD-E export version was introduced in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in June 2025. Deliveries of the Pantsir-SMD to Russian forces in the field reportedly began in September 2025, according to Lieutenant General Alexander Maksimtsev, Chief of the General Staff.
“In order to strengthen the defense of critical administrative and political centers, vital infrastructure, strategic regions, deployed military groupings, and rear-echelon assets from large-scale aerial assaults by hostile aircraft and missile systems, new Pantsir-SMD surface-to-air missile systems are being rapidly inducted into service,” he stated.
The basic Pantsir (meaning “Shell” or “Body Armor,” in Russian) missile system was introduced into Russian service in 2012 as the Pantsir-S1 (SA-22A Greyhound, in NATO terminology), with twin 2A38M 30mm autocannons and 12 x 57E6M-E Greyhound command-guided missiles, with an operational range of 11 miles.
This was later upgraded to 19 miles in the new Pantsir-S1M model of 2019, and out to 25 miles with the Pantsir-SM version of December 2023. Since 2015, the Pantsir-S2 (SA-22B Greyhound) has added a new tracking radar and dual-faced radars with enhanced features and range.
The Russians produced at least 116 Pantsir missile systems by January 2022, with a construction rate of about 30 units per year, but the war in Ukraine took a severe toll on the large, bulky, air defense vehicles, with the head of the Ukrainian Security Service claiming, probably correctly, that Ukraine had destroyed 48 percent of all Russian Pantsirs, including S-1M and S2 models, by October 31, 2025. The Dutch website Oryx, which tracks only visually confirmed losses, listed 44 Pantsir-S1/S2 systems lost as of its current compilation, including 37 destroyed, five damaged, and two captured.
Wartime experience in Ukraine revealed that the rapid-firing, 30mm cannon was less successful than desired against tiny, aerial targets such as Ukrainian drones, so a new development was required that would “allow you not to shoot sparrows (drones) with a cannon.”
So, the brand-new Pantsir-SMD was created in 2024, with the 30mm guns removed, and the missile armament revised to include up to 12 x 57E6M-E Greyhound missiles, or up to 48 newer, much-smaller, TKB-1055 missiles, with a very short range of 4.35 miles, or various combinations of the two missile types. The standard armament appears to be six large, Greyhound missiles and 24 miniature TKB-1055s.
The Pantsir-SMD continues to use the combat-proven, triple-channel, 1RS-2-1 Schlem (“Helmet,” with NATO designation: “Hot Shot”) radar for target acquisition and tracking, although there are plans to replace it with the newer, 1RS-3 radar, which is based upon reflective, phased-array technology. It can track up to 40 aerial targets simultaneously, out to 22 miles of detection range, and 17 miles of tracking range. Tiny, drone targets with a radar cross-section of less than one square meter may also be detected at great range.
There is also a 10ES1 multispectral, electro-optical tracking device for tracking targets in a passive, radar-silent mode to avoid detection from its own radar emissions. Like the Pantsir-S1 and S2, the system is capable of tracking and guiding four missiles fired at four distinct targets. Usually, two missiles are fired at each target, with a kill probability of 70 to 90 percent.
One of the system’s most advanced features is its automated kill assessment capability, which allows real-time evaluation of interception success without operator input, dramatically improving the system’s engagement speed, responsiveness, and ability to cope with swarm tactics used by enemy drone operators.
The TKB-1055 miniature missiles are primarily for targeting very small aerial targets, such as drones and cruise missiles, at short ranges, within visual engagement parameters.
The new Pantsir-SMD system is fully modular, rotates 360 degrees, and carries a diesel generator on the back of the platform for independent operation without a vehicle beneath it, if desired, so it may easily be mounted upon rooftops or tall, steel towers to meet specific air defense needs.
This latest evolution of the Pantsir/SA-22 Greyhound series is directly responsive to the rapid proliferation of drone warfare. It has reportedly been deployed with Russian forces in the field since September 2025, with top priority likely going to the frontline units in eastern Ukraine, but also to defend Vladimir Putin’s opulent, $ 1.35-billion Gelendzhik palace overlooking the Black Sea, where he has been spending more and more time recently, in the solid-limestone bunkers behind the seaside cliffs.
This story originally published on SOFREP.
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