Does Ukraine need its own version of Russia's Pantsir? Expert weighs in
Photo: Pantsir missile system (Wikipedia)
Ukraine needs not a copy of Russia’s Pantsir, but its own network-centric air defense system with a large number of sensors and distributed interception, aviation expert Anatolii Khrapchynskyi said.
What kind of air defense system Ukraine needs
Khrapchynskyi recalled that Russia’s Pantsir air defense system combines radar, small missiles and a cannon. In his view, Ukraine needs a network-centric air defense system that can be deployed quickly and equipped with a variety of early-warning sensors. Radar, tracking, detection and target destruction should then be activated.
The expert emphasized distributed interception. According to him, a Shahed powered by an internal combustion engine flying at an altitude of 500 meters is easier to shoot down with a Browning machine gun or an automated turret than with a Mistral missile.
He noted that monitoring channels often report altitudes of 7,000 or 12,000 meters, but according to him, jet-powered drones cannot fly higher than 5,000 meters. In Khrapchynskyi’s view, the choice of weapon should be based on precise calculations, and a large number of means should be maximally used at the final lines of defense.
"The targets should be shot down on the territory of the Russian Federation, rather than on the approaches to cities," Khrapchynskyi said.
Ideally, strikes should target launch sites that Russia is building at lightning speed, requiring Ukrainian or Western-supplied ballistic missiles, he said.
Khrapchynskyi also noted that Russia is looking for ways to increase the range of the Iskander-M from 400–500 km to 840 km or even 1,000 km. In his view, the goal is to prevent Ukraine from using ballistic missiles against launchers that will be positioned deeper inside Russian territory.
