Well-known Russian military expert and editor-in-chief of ‘Arsenal of Fatherland’ magazine Viktor Murakhovsky posted on his Facebook page the post which mentions the failure of the Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile systems protecting the Russian Hmeimim Air Base in Syria.
According to Viktor Murakhovsky post, in Syria, it came to light that these Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile systems practically “do not track” low-speed and small-sized targets, which include drones, but at the same time regularly spotted big birds flying around the base, which is confusing for operators.
Early, the Russian military faced with a drone attack launched by terrorist groups against its permanent Hmeimim Air Base in Syria’s western coastal province of Latakia, from where Russian fighter jets carry out airstrikes against militants.
During the attack, the Russian Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile systems showed not the best result, which drew sharp criticism from military expert.
But 24 hours later, Murakhovsky was forced to remove the criticism post, according to Lenta.ru citing another Russian military expert Alexey Khlopotov.
”It appears that our weapons to journalists and experts can only be praises. Although not always (this is already from his personal practice), ” the Alexey Khlopotov said.
Alexey Khlopotov hints about pressure from the Russian military.
In Russia, the facts of censorship or persecution for criticism of the armed forces or country’s leadership are often noted.
At the moment, it is known that the main role in protecting the Russian military base in Syria was assumed by other air defense systems. Russia army deployed to Syria its Tor-M2U short-range air defense missile system for protection of an air base in the country.
The Tor-M2U missile system can destroy a variety of aerial targets such as cruise missiles, guided missiles, helicopters, aircraft, guided bombs, unmanned aerial systems, and high-precision weapons flying at low and medium-altitudes.