If the US style of warfare is being used in the run up to Syria then you can bet that drones are flying all over the place trying to get a view on where key facilities and personnel are located.
What might slow down that effort? The Pantsir S1 anti air system. Read about the particulars here, but lets sum it up by saying it sports two 30mm cannons and 12 ready to launch missiles.
Add a few Russian Advisers, stir in lazy mission planning and we could see a few UAVs get knocked down.
But even more interesting is the fact that these weapons also have the capability to target cruise missiles...especially slow ones like the Tomahawk.
Sidenote: This is the same system that the Syrians credited with shooting down a Turkish RF-4E doing a recon mission along their coast.
I've actually heard good things about the Pantsir S1. (or bad in this case)
ReplyDeleteIt was apparently built with the idea that it could be stationed next to bigger SAM batteries like the S-300/S-400 and defend them from incoming missiles or bombs. It turned out to be really good in tests and now is sold with the promise of defending airfields from cruise missiles.
Hey, if these manage to knock out our Tomahawks then we might actually have an air battle for once. Syrian MiG-29s against Navy Super Hornets and Air Force Raptors.
Along these lines, it's important to remember that this is related to the Kashtan naval CIWS. Non maneuvering JDAMS or SDBs should be fairly simple targets compared to anti-ship missiles.
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