[ad_1]
According to information released by the Russian news agency TASS on October 29, 2020, the latest Pantsir-M air defense missile system aboard the Project 22800 corvette Odintsovo succeeded in repelling a massive air missile strike and cruise. He shot down all targets at different distances. Experts believe the launchers will make Russian warships a difficult target for airstrikes, writes the Izvestia daily.
Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link
The Odintsovo Project 22800 corvette is equipped with a Pantsir-M air defense missile system mounted on the rear deck. (Image source Miso Twitter account)
The Pantsir-M was tested in mid-October 2020. The Defense Ministry said targets of small M-6 planes were launched by Su-27 jets of the Baltic fleet. The Russian Defense Ministry and industry sources said the tests were successful. The targets mimicked a massive air raid and strikes on Odintsovo with anti-ship cruise missiles.
Pantsir-M successfully destroyed targets from a significant distance and shot down the remaining targets near the warship. The analysis showed that the launcher fully coped with the mission.
The Odintsovo is the third Karakurt class corvette of the 22800 project. Pantsir-M is the main difference from its predecessors. In the future, all corvettes will be equipped with the launcher, although there were doubts whether the small warship could carry such a sophisticated weapon.
“There are many factors that must be taken into account when operating at sea, such as rough seas. It requires different equipment. The successful live fire paves the way for the batch production of Pantsir-M. The Odintsovo is the first warship to be equipped with it, â€said expert Dmitry Boltenkov. Pantsir-M will make Russian warships virtually invulnerable to airstrikes, he added.
Odintsovo is to operate in the 1st Battalion of the 36th Missile Boat Brigade of the Baltic Fleet based in Baltiysk in the Kaliningrad region. The first Mytischi and Sovetsk corvettes are already operating there.
Pantsir-M comprises eight launchers with guided anti-aircraft missiles and two 30mm six-barrel speed cannons. It can shoot down cruise and anti-ship missiles, drones, planes and helicopters. The weapon operates on the principle of two-line air defense capable of protecting the warship from any air strikes. Anti-aircraft missiles are the first to attack the adversary from a distance of 20 km. The remaining targets are attacked by 30mm cannons from a distance of 4 km. The cannons can fire armor-piercing and fragmentation projectiles at a rate of ten thousand rounds per minute.
Pantsir-M can destroy sea and coastal targets. It can repel an attack from small warships or boats within the destruction range of its missiles and cannons.
The Pantsir field has worked well in Syria. The first launchers were deployed to Humaymim Air Base in 2015. The Defense Ministry said it shot down 54 MLRS missiles and 16 terrorist drones in two years.
Project 22800 corvettes have a displacement of 800 tonnes and carry Kalibr missiles and an AK-176MA 76.2mm gun.
The Odintsovo was being tested in the Arctic from the beginning of August to the end of September 2020. Until now, it was not known whether the small corvettes could operate in very cold and bad weather. The Odintsovo completed all the missions at Barents and the White Sea during the two-month sortie, fired missiles and returned to the Baltic Sea via inland waterways, the Izvestia said.
Close-up view of the Pantsir-M air defense missile system mounted on the project Odintsovo 22800 corvette. (Image source Miso Twitter account)
© Copyright 2020 TASS Navy Reconnaissance. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
[ad_2]
