The first division of a new Russian missile system is now operational in the Arctic

The first missile vehicles are in place at Severomorsk, on the Kola Peninsula.

By Atle Staalesen, The Independent Barents Observer July 31, 2019
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A Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile system fires a missile during the Keys to the Sky competition at the International Army Games 2017 at the Ashuluk shooting range outside Astrakhan, Russia August 5, 2017. (Maxim Shemetov / Reuters File Photo)

A medium-range Russian surface-to-air missile, the Pantsir-S, is now deployed to protect the air space over Severomorsk, the Arctic home base of Russia’s Northern Fleet.

The first vehicles equipped with the self-propelled missile system have been incorporated in the Northern Fleet and deployed on a test basis around the fleet’s main base.

“Considering the complicated terrain of the strategically important Kola Peninsula, the Pantsir-S is the most efficient system as it can provide air defense of military objects and guarantee destruction of air targets, including small-sized targets,” the Northern Fleet said.

The first units of the missile system arrived in the Kola Peninsula in late 2018. Since then, servicemen have been undergoing training on a shooting range in the south of the country.

Practically all of them have previous experiences with the Pantsir-S from service in Syria, according to the Northern Fleet.

The Pantsir-S (SA-22 Greyhound) was first introduced in the Russian Armed Forces in 2012 and has since been applied in war action in Syria and reportedly also in eastern Ukraine.

The system is carried by mobile vehicles and can be applied against enemy aircraft, helicopters, precision munitions, cruise missiles and UAVs, also at low and extremely low ranges.