MURMANSK, July 29. /TASS/. The combat teams of a Northern Fleet battery of Pantsyr-S1 surface-to-air missile/gun systems defended the Arctic coast against a notional enemy’s assault force during drills, the Fleet’s press office reported on Wednesday.
"The personnel of the Northern Fleet’s tactical group stationed at the Severny Klever base on Kotelny Island (the New Siberian Islands archipelago) in the Laptev Sea practiced combat training assignments for defending the Arctic coast against the landing of a notional enemy’s assault force," the press office said in a statement.
During the drills, the combat teams of a battery of Pantsyr-S1 anti-aircraft missile/gun systems "successfully accomplished firings against the targets that simulated the notional enemy’s hardware," the statement reads.
The anti-aircraft gunners used mock-ups of armored personnel carriers located at a distance of up to three kilometers as targets. During the firings, the combat teams also practiced procedures within the required time limits for loading Pantsyr missile/gun armament and deploying the systems from a march, the press office specified.
The anti-aircraft gunners held the firings in severe weather conditions of a strong gusty wind of up to 20 meters per second and air temperatures of about zero degrees Celsius, the press office specified.
In addition to Pantsyr-S1 Arctic anti-aircraft missile/gun systems, the Northern Fleet’s tactical group on Kotelny Island also operates Bastion coastal defense anti-ship missile launchers, which allows reliably protecting the Russian Arctic and Northern Sea Route sectors within the tactical group’s responsibility area.
The Pantsyr-S1 (NATO reporting name: SA-22 Greyhound) is a ground-based close-in surface-to-air missile/gun system designated to shield military and civilian facilities, including long-range air defense systems, from all existing and future air attack weapons.
The Pantsyr-S1 can also shield a facility against ground-based and naval threats. The Arctic versions of the Pantsyr-S1 system successfully cope with their combat duty tasks within the Northern Fleet’s tactical groups on the islands of the Arctic Ocean.
The Pantsyr mounted on the truck chassis for greater mobility is armed with two 30mm guns, each of which is capable of firing up to 40 rounds per second, as well as with 12 anti-aircraft missiles.