Members of the battalion of Serbian 250th Air Defence Rocket Brigade armed with artillery-missile system “Pantsir S1” are conducting intensive training in the execution of combat actions in an air defence operation. The focus is placed on tactical exercises of combat crews of command and fighting vehicles, during which they practice procedures and test standardised actions for the emplacement of fire position, transition of the system into various degrees of preparedness, replenishment of ammunition and rockets, and the efficiency of repairing possible failures and breaks. The training includes the practice executed by crews concerning combat actions and basic technical maintenance of this system for the defence of the airspace of the Republic of Serbia.
Serbia operates one battery (six units) of the Pantsir-S1, delivered in February–March 2020. Two more batteries on order. The Serbian interior minister conveyed “his personal regards and big gratitude from Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic” to the Russian defense minister “for all these years of the joint struggle and the development of relations.” Serbia was severely bombed in March-June 1999 by the NATO combat aircraft and seems to look forward to extend its air defense capability to be independent from the West. Serbian Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin announced in 2021 that Serbian Armed Forces will buy two batteries of Russian-made Pantsir-S1M Air Defense Systems.
On October 2021, Air defense forces from Russia and Serbia successfully coped with the tasks of their interoperability during the Slavic Shield 2021 joint drills that ended at the Batajnica airfield in the Balkan country. A ceremony was held at the Batajnica airbase in Serbia to close the Slavic Shield 2021 joint air defense exercise. The drills brought together units of the armed forces of Russia and Serbia armed with Pantsyr surface-to-air missile/gun systems. The personnel of both countries successfully practiced interoperability and the joint combat employment of air defense troops.
The Pantsir (Carapace) missile system is a family of self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery systems. Starting with the Pantsir-S1 (NATO reporting name SA-22 Greyhound) as the first version, it is produced by KBP Instrument Design Bureau of Tula, Russia. The Pantsir-S1 was designed to provide point air defence of military, industrial and administrative installations against aircraft, helicopters, precision munitions, cruise missiles and UAVs; and to provide additional protection to air defence units against enemy air attacks employing precision munitions, especially at low to extremely low altitudes.
