Erdogan claims at least 8 Pantsir air defense systems destroyed in Syria

At least 8 Russian-made Russian-supplied Pantsir-S1 (NATO reporting name SA-22 Greyhound) self-propelled combined gun-missile systems destroyed in shellings in Syria’s Idlib province, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed Tuesday.

“In Idlib, we destroyed eight Pantsir with the help of our combat drones. These are very expensive and important air defense systems,” NTV television quoted Erdogan as saying. He also added that, in addition to Idlib, these complexes are “deployed in Libya.”

The Pantsir is a Russian-made small-range weapon designated to strike air targets with automatic anti-aircraft guns and missiles with radio-command guidance and infrared and radar tracking. As its specific feature, the weapon combines the multi-channel target acquisition and tracking system and the missile/artillery armament designed to strike targets at an altitude of up to 15 km and within a range of 20 km.

In 2007, Assad ordered 50 of these weapon systems from Russia.

Turkish social media also were posted a large amount of video footage showing Turkish drones strikes targeting a range of regime assets, the one showing a domestically developed Bayraktar TB2 armed drone striking an apparently active Russian-made Panstir S-1 air defense system deployed inside Idlib.