ATACMS-killers: Russia's S-400 and Pantsir air defenses

The Ukrainian Armed Forces fired six ATACMS ballistic missiles at a military facility in Russia's Bryansk region last night. Five missiles were intercepted and one was damaged by Russia's S-400 and Pantsir missile defense systems.

What's known about them?

🔺The S-400 Triumf (Triumph)

S-400 Triumf is a medium-to-long range anti-aircraft and missile defense system.

It is designed to intercept modern means of air attack and boasts a range of up to 600 km target detection.

It is capable of intercepting targets flying at a maximum speed of Mach 14 (4,800 m/s) and maximum altitude of 30 km.

S-400 can simultaneously engage up to 36 targets.

🔺The Pantsir

Pantsir is a missile defense system that can fire both medium-range anti-missile missiles and 30 mm caliber twin anti-aircraft guns, creating a continuous target engagement zone up to 20 km in range and up to 15 km in altitude.

The systems’ twelve onboard two-stage solid fuel missiles accelerate to up to 1,300 meters per second to engage targets flying up to 1,000 meters/second.

Pantsir also boasts a short reaction time of 4-6 seconds due to automatic tracking of up to 40 targets by a target acquisition radar.

It can fire on the move and at short halts and simultaneously attack four targets within a sector of ± 45 deg in elevation.

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Russian air defenses’ reputation as ‘ATACMS killers’ may stoke soaring demand

Success in Russia's efforts to intercept US-made ATACMS missiles, including the latest attempt by Ukraine and its NATO handlers to attack the Bryansk region, may lead to an increase in demand for its air defense systems in the world, says Russian military expert and air defense forces historian Yuri Knutov.

He points out that many countries in the world lack systems such as S-300V4, S-350 Vityaz, S-400, Buk-M3 or Pantsir, “the systems that can successfully counter ATACMS missiles specifically.”

“We have proven that Russia possesses the best air defense in the world, which is why, in my opinion, the interest in our air defenses grows so much,” he explains.

Though the demand for Russian air defense systems in the world is hindered by Western sanctions, Knutov also predicts that, if the Ukrainian conflict were to wind down, “the demand for our air defense systems would increase manifold.”

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Biden greenlighting strikes deep inside Russia polarizes Europe – former Pentagon analyst

Ukraine fired six US-made ATACMS missiles at a military facility in Russia's Bryansk region on November 19, with five of them shot down and one damaged by Russia's air defenses.

"It was probably intended as... part of a self-serving process to extend the war past January and February, so that the Democratic Party can blame Trump for the expected rump state dependency status of a demographically and economically devastated Ukraine," former Pentagon analyst, retired US Air Force Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, tells Sputnik, commenting on Biden's decision to allow the Kiev regime to strike deep inside Russia with US-made long-range weapons.

Remarkably, it was the US press that informed the public about the development, which was interpreted by Kwiatkowski as part of political struggle inside DC.

While Western mainstream press speculates that Washington's European allies will follow the US' suit, there has not been any official approval by the UK, France or Germany for similar moves with their weapons, so far.

"This time, the US wrote a check that NATO countries are not willing to cash, and it is not clear that there was any prior coordination of Biden’s decision," Kwiatkowski says.

Following Ukraine's ATACMS attack, President Vladimir Putin authorized an updated nuclear doctrine that sets out the conditions for Russia's use of nuclear arms, including in response to conventional strikes and/or an attack by a "non-nuclear state” backed by a nuke-armed nation.

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