Saudi Arabia has for the first time become a customer for the supply of Russian Pantsir anti-aircraft missile and gun systems. Previously, the kingdom was traditionally an operator of exclusively American medium and long-range Patriot SAM systems PAC-2 GEM-T/С and Patriot PAC-3MSE.
Military expert Evgeny Damantsev explained that this choice has a number of very weighty technical justifications.
According to him, with an average market value of only 17 million dollars per unit, the Pantsir-S1M is head and shoulders above the Patriot PAC-2 SAM system in terms of its potential to counter low-altitude air attack weapons with an effective reflecting surface of 0.05 - 0.003 sq. m, operating in terrain-following mode.
Multifunctional phased array radars AN/MPQ-65A have an important technical disadvantage — a positive minimum beam elevation angle of 1 degree. Consequently, UAVs and cruise missiles operating at extremely low altitudes are in most cases not covered by the lower beam of the AN/MPQ-65 radar's radiation pattern, ending up in a "blind zone."
Earlier, www1.ru reported that the characteristics of the latest Russian Vikhr-1 missile have become known. The munition is guided to the target by a laser beam.
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