MOSCOW, February 3. /TASS/. An unidentified small drone approaching Russia’s air base at Syria’s Hmeymim from the Mediterranean was downed by the base’s Pantsyr missile defense system, the Russian foreign ministry said on Monday.
According to the ministry, an unidentified small unmanned aerial vehicle was stopped by the airbase’s radars when it was approaching the Russian base from the northeastern part of the Mediterranean Sea after dark.
"The target was destroyed by the Panstyr-S missiles at a distance from the airbase. No one was hurt. No material damage was done," the ministry said, adding that the airbase is operating routinely.
The previous drone attack on the Hmeymim base was staged by militants on January 19. The air targets were downed at a safe distance from the base.
Currently, two Pantsyr systems are deployed in Syria - the one at the Hmeymim base and the other one used by the Syrian government army.
The Pantsyr-S1 (NATO reporting name: SA-22 Greyhound) is a ground-based self-propelled surface-to-air missile/gun system designated to shield military and civilian facilities, including long-range air defense systems, from all modern and future air attack weapons. The Pantsyr consists of 12 surface-to-air missiles (six missiles in two transport and launch containers each).
The Pantsyr is also armed with two 30mm guns, each of which is capable of firing up to 40 rounds per second.
Chief Designer for Air Defense Systems at the Shipunov Design Bureau of Instrument-Making (part of High Precision Systems Company within the state hi-tech corporation Rostec) Valery Slugin told TASS earlier that the Russian Pantsyr-S system had downed about 100 drones in various parts of the world, including Syria, over the period of their operation.