Tel Aviv: The Russians are adding laser to one of their more advanced air defence systems. As part of continuous upgrading efforts, Russia has announced that a laser gun would soon be installed on the Pantsir air defence system.
Denis Manturov, the Russian Federation’s first deputy prime minister, made the announcement at a press conference held outside of the IDEX 2025 defence show in Abu Dhabi. According to him, work on the laser system is already underway
“Today, work is underway on a laser complex, which, among other things, will be used on the Pantsir in the near future,” he said.
The statement marks yet another step toward increasing the effectiveness of the Pantsir system in contemporary warfare, even though he declined to provide additional technical details regarding the laser technology.
For many years, different versions of the Pantsir have been an important part of Russia’s air defences, which is widely utilised by the Russian Armed Forces. Aircraft, drones, and missiles are just a few of the aerial threats that the Pantsir can intercept.
According to the Russian armed forces, it offers a multi-layered defence shield by combining gun and missile systems.
As per the Russian company that manufactures the Pantsir-S1M, the system has a number of improved tactical and technical capabilities, including the increased range and altitude of engaged air targets. It is capable of using two types of SAMs (57E6M-E and 57E6-E).
“Pantsir-S1M” ADMGS is designed for air defence of small-sized military, administrative and industrial facilities and areas (including mobile ones) against fixed- and rotary-winged aircraft, cruise and short-range missiles, and precision munitions as well as for strengthening air defence units against massive air attacks.”
Israeli sources said that the addition of the laser is based on the lessons the Russians learned from the war in Ukraine and from the heavy use of Iranian made armed drones in the ongoing war in Israel.
Israel is in a very advanced stage of developing the Iron Beam laser systems that will operate in parallel to the Israel kinetic air defence systems like the Iron Dome and David’s Sling.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
