Brazil will upgrade its armed forces with Pantsir air defense systems

Source : http://sputniknews.com

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Brazil is apt to purchase Russian Pantsir air defense systems as early as in the first half of 2016, Brazilian Ambassador to Russia Jose Vallim Guerreiro said.

“A general decision on the purchase has been made…As far as I know, the deal is expected in the first half of 2016,” Guerreiro told RIA Novosti.

In a January interview with RIA Novosti the ambassador had suggested that the contract on the delivery of Russian Pantsir-S1 air defense systems to the Latin American country could be signed in the beginning of 2015.

Guerreiro explained that this delay was mainly because “the 2015 budget did not provide enough financial resources to pay for armaments.”

He added that the work is currently underway to include a corresponding provision in the 2016 budget.

The two countries launched negotiations on Pantsir deliveries in 2012.

The Pantsir-S1 (NATO reporting name SA-22 Greyhound), is a short-to-medium range gun-missile system combining a wheeled vehicle mounting a fire-control radar and electro-optical sensor, two 30-mm cannons and up to 12 57E6 radio-command guided short-range missiles. The system is designed to acquire a variety of targets flying at altitudes from five meters to 10 kilometers and at the range from 200 meters to 20 kilometers.

Russia's Advanced S-400 Systems Could 'Neutralize NATO Airpower'

Source : http://sputniknews.com

Russia plans to boost air defense along its Western border by deploying a number of modern S-400 Triumf and Pantsir-S air defense systems as part of the country's large-scale program to modernize its military by 2020 and apparently in response to NATO's ongoing saber-rattling.

The S-400 "deployment in greater numbers along Russia's borders with NATO could challenge the latter's ability to achieve air dominance in the event of a conflict with Moscow," Zachary Keck said in an article titled "Watch Out, America: Russia Sends Super Advanced S-400 to NATO's Borders."

Russia's next-generation anti-aircraft weapon system can engage all types of aerial targets including aircraft, drones and ballistic and cruise missiles within the range of 250 miles at an altitude of nearly 19 miles.

The S-400 is equipped with three different types of missiles and is fitted with a radar that is capable of tracking up to 300 targets within the range of over 370 miles.

The brand new air defense system hence challenges the entire Western way of war, which "depends on the achievement of air supremacy," according to Robert Farley.

"At least in the early days of the war, the S-400 and its associated systems could neutralize NATO airpower, undermining one of the central pillars of the Western way of war," he wrote in a piece for the National Interest, adding that "NATO forces have not fought against a modern, capable air defense system in a very long time."