Russian Pantsir Systems Shot down 40 Turkish Drones over Syrian, Libya

Russian short-range air defense systems “Pantsir-S” shot down more than 40 Turkish-made bayraktar and Anka drones during the fighting in Syria and Libya, according to “Russia-1” TV channel.

Turkish Bayraktar drones are easy targets for domestic air defense systems such as Pantsir, according to the deputy chief of the anti-aircraft missile forces of the Russian Aerospace Forces Yuri Muravkin. Speaking on “Russia-1” TV channel, he said, “Bayraktar (drone) has such high-speed and mass-dimensional characteristics that it is not difficult to shoot down a drone even for an average-skilled crew.”

Pantsir-S in service with Syria and Libyan forces shot down more than 40 Bayraktars and Anka heavy Turkish drones with the TV channel reported quoting Russian officials.
The channel also showed remnants of a Bayraktar drone shot down over Syrian skies.

“In the Idlib region, we are now observing three Bayraktar unmanned aerial vehicles. At the same time, we can track them, starting with the overflight and ending with the landing,” said Alexander Novikov, head of the construction and development of the system for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, on the air of the TV channel.

Also in the report was shown the Bastion system, which collects information from all Russian radars. “At the moment, Bastion shows in real time what reconnaissance aircraft, drones fly along the Russian border and over the contact line in Donbass,” the TV channel’s correspondent said.

In 2011, it was reported that Russia had supplied Syria with 36 Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and gun systems.

Turkey has maintained that its armed Bayratkar drones were instrumental in turning the war in favor of Azerbaijan during its conflict with Armenia in 2020. An unspecified of Russian weaponry including Pantsir-S, T-72 tanks and BMP armored vehicles were shot down by its drones, it said.