Libya In June 2019,
United Arab Emirates deployed several of its Pantsir-S1 air defence systems to
Libya, to support the
Libyan National Army (LNA) in their advance towards
Tripoli. The Libyan Interior Minister of the
Government of National Accord (GNA),
Fathi Bashagha claimed one of the systems was reportedly destroyed by a GNA Libyan Air Force strike on 13 November 2019. On 15 May 2020,
Turkish media showed a Pantsir system belonging to the LNA targeted in a GNA drone strike near the
Al-Watiya Air Base, southwest of Tripoli. Reportedly, the system was supplied by the United Arab Emirates. The airstrike came as a part of an operation to cut supplies to the LNA. Turkish media showed imagery of the airstrike. The LNA denied the claim made by the GNA. On 18 May, the Turkish-backed GNA captured the al-Watiya Air Base including a Pantsir-S1 TLAR belonging to the LNA. Later, it was reported that the captured Pantsir battery was the same targeted three days before and it was transferred by the United States to
Ramstein Air Base in Germany in June 2020. On 20 May 2020, Mohammed Gununu, a GNA spokesman claimed their forces had destroyed 7 Pantsir TLARs in Al-Watiya airbase, Tarhouna and Al-Wishka. Media sources reported the destruction of at least five defenses in the GNA offensive, in turn an LNA official denied the destruction of Pantsirs. On 8 June 2020, video footage was tweeted by the GNA claiming that a leaked video of a Pantsir was allegedly being operated by UAE personnel. The personnel cannot be seen but according to the GNA Gulf Arabic dialect can be heard. Post-conflict analysis showed that Pantsir was (at least temporarily) suppressed by combined efforts from electronic warfare systems on one side and long range artillery (or airstrikes) on the other side. and this reportedly improved both Pantsir's survivability and effectiveness. On 22 August 2022, a US
MQ-9 Reaper UAV was shot down over Libya by a Pantsir.
Syria A Pantsir-S1 unit of the
Syrian Air Defense Force reportedly scored the first combat kill of the type by downing a
Turkish Air Force RF-4E carrying out a reconnaissance flight over the Syrian coast near
Latakia on 22 June 2012. The system has also been deployed on the territory of Syria by the Russian Armed Forces as part of
Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War since 2015. A Russian poster displayed at the International Military Technical Forum «ARMY-2017», from March to July 2017, claimed that the Russia's Pantsir-S systems deployed in Syria destroyed 12 flying objects, including the UAVs Heron, Bayraktar,
RQ-21A, and also various missiles and an
aerostat. At the beginning of October 2017, it was reported that the Pantsir destroyed two MLRS "Grad" missiles launched by
ISIL. On 27 December 2017, militants fired several missiles from the Bdama inhabited community at
Latakia International Airport and the Russian Aerospace Forces deployment site in the
Khmeimim Air Base. Two missiles were intercepted by the Pantsir air defense system. In the night of 5–6 January 2018, the Khmeimim Air Base was attacked by 13 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Seven drones were eliminated by the Pantsir air defence systems, six landed at assigned coordinates with the use of electronic warfare hardware. On 14 April 2018, American, British, and French forces
launched a barrage of 103 air-to-surface and cruise missiles targeting eight sites in Syria. According to Russian officials, twenty-five Pantsir-S1 missiles launched in response destroyed twenty-three incoming missiles, The American Department of Defense stated no allied missiles were shot down. A Pantsir-S1 system belonging to the Syrian Air Defense Force was damaged by the
Israel Defense Forces during the
May 2018 Israel-Syria clashes. Images of the damaged system show it was effectively out of ammunition and the radar was disabled at the time of the strike. According to Chief Designer for Air Defense Systems at
KBP Instrument Design Bureau (KBP) Valery Slugin, Israeli intelligence managed to track the position of the system after one of its operators called for re-supply and left his mobile phone in the cabin. On 21 January 2019, Israeli military reported it has destroyed two Pantsir-S1 systems near Damascus. Russia's Pantsir and Tor-M1 air defense systems shot down 27 rockets the militants had fired at the Khmeimim Air Base on 6 May 2019. In January 2020, Chief Designer for Air Defense Systems at KBP Valery Slugin reported Pantsir air defence systems intercepted about 100 drones during their combat operations all over the world, most of which took place in Syria. Pantsirs were also successfully used against various ground targets, such as terrorist's jihad mobiles, during their Syrian deployment. A Syrian Pantsir-S1 system was claimed to be destroyed by the
Turkish Armed Forces during strikes on Syria in the night of 27–28 February 2020. Russian media alleged that the video analysis of footage released by Turkish media indicated visible design differences between the system claimed to be destroyed by Turkey and the variant operated by the Syrian Air Defense Force, and claimed that the footage might not come from Syria at all. Russian media claimed that the footage was
CGI saying that the traces of missing video fragments and debris having the same size and shape after the explosion. On 10 March 2020, the Russian Defence Ministry confirmed two Pantsir-S1 systems were damaged during the recent Turkey-Syria clashes, adding that repair works were nearing completion. On July 19, 2021, four F-16 fighter jets of the Israeli Air Force entered Syria's airspace via the US-controlled al-Tanf zone and fired eight guided missiles at an area southeast of Syria's Aleppo. Vadim Kulit, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, claimed that seven missiles were downed by the Russian-made Pantsir-S and Buk-M2 systems of the Syrian Air Defense Forces. In the evening of July 27, a drone was launched by militants from the Kafer-Khattar community in the Idlib Province. The militant drone was downed over the Hama Province by the Syrian air defense who used a Russia-produced Pantsir-S missile system, Kulit claimed the next day. Syrian air defense forces shot down 22 missiles fired by Israel into Syria using Russian-made Buk-M2E and Pantsir-S systems, Rear Adm. Vadim Kulit said on 20 August 2021. Syrian air defense forces shot down twenty-one out of twenty-four missiles fired by Israel into Syria using Russian-made Buk-M2E and Pantsir-S systems, Rear Adm. Vadim Kulit said on September 3, 2021. Syrian air defense forces shot down 8 out of 12 missiles fired by Israel in Syria using Russian-made Pantsir-S systems, Rear Adm. Vadim Kulit said on October 8, 2021. Syrian air defense forces shot down ten out of twelve missiles fired by Israel into Syria using Russian-made Buk-M2E and Pantsir-S systems, Rear Adm. Vadim Kulit said on November 24, 2021. On 13 May 2022, the Israeli Air Force launched attacks on SAA positions on Masyaf killing 5 people including one civilian, the attack destroyed one Pantsir-C1 system. On 25 August and 17 September 2022, new attacks were reportedly partly repelled by Syrian Pantsir-S1, Buk-M2E and S-75 systems. On 27 November 2022 a Russian operated Pantsir-S1 allegedly fired on an American
MQ-9 Reaper without effect.
Ukraine Various independent experts believe that Pantsir-S1 systems were operated by
Russian-backed forces during the
Russo-Ukrainian War. Remnants of the main armament of the Pantsir-S1 were reported to have been observed in Ukraine in November 2014. It was also reportedly filmed in
Luhansk and photographed in
Makiivka in the rebel-held territories during early 2015. On 1 March 2022, during the
Russian invasion of Ukraine, a Pantsir-S1 system got stuck in the mud in Kherson, Ukraine, and was later destroyed by the Ukrainian Army. One system was reportedly destroyed during the
Battle of Snake Island in late June or early July 2022. Ukrainian's army claimed it used a trophy Pantsir-S1 to shoot down an aerial target. According to the
OSINT website
Oryxspioenkop, as of 28 December 2024 at least 27 Pantsir-S1 had been lost by Russia in the war. On 19 January 2023, pictures posted online show that a Pantsir air defence system has been placed on the Russian Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Education in Moscow. Such a deployment of point defence systems is not unheard of—the US government uses
NASAMS and Avenger systems to protect Washington D.C.—but this is the first time they have been deployed in Moscow. This system is specifically designed to shoot down drones. While no official explanation has been given, Ukraine has conducted strikes inside Russia such as at the
Engels-2 (air base) a number of times in 2022. Engels is south of Moscow and some 300 miles from the Russian-Ukraine border. In early and mid 2023, it was reported by Russian state media that the Pantsir system had received new software to improve dealing with missiles fired by the US-made
HIMARS system and British
Storm Shadow cruise missiles, respectively. On 21 June 2024, a Russian
Ka-29 was reportedly shot down over Crimea, by a Russian Pantsir-S1, during a Ukrainian drone attack involving both air and naval drones. All four crew members were killed.
Russia In January 2023, several Pantsir systems were spotted on top of Moscow buildings such as the Kremlin and the Ministry of Defence. Another system was set up near President Putin’s Sochi residence in April 2023. There were explosions over the
Kremlin Senate which Russia blamed on two Ukrainian drones. Pantsir missile systems, along with electronic jamming equipment, protected the building. On 30 May the Mayor of Moscow,
Sergei Sobyanin, claimed that eight Ukrainian drones struck Moscow wounding two and causing light damage. Mr Sobyanin said: "Three of them (drones) were suppressed by electronic warfare, lost control and deviated from their intended targets. Another five drones were shot down by the Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile system in the Moscow region," The
Wagner group used Pantsir-S1s to provide AA cover during the 2023
Wagner Group rebellion. On 25 December 2024, an
Azerbaijan Airlines Fight 8243, an
Embraer 190 passenger jet scheduled from Baku to Grozny, was shot at and severely damaged by a Russian Pantsir systems over the North Caucasus near Grozny, prompting diversion and crash landing 5 km from
Aktau International Airport, Kazakhstan and killing 38 occupants and injuring 29. While Russia did not explain or take responsibility for the attack, Putin apologized to Azerbaijan's President for the "tragic incident". On 31 October 2025, Ukrainian
Security Service of Ukraine head,
Vasyl Maliuk, claimed that Ukraine had destroyed some 48% of Russian “Pantsirs”. He furthered claimed that Russia manufactured 30 “Pantsirs” per year. ==Operators==