Riyadh (Agencies): Unofficial sources in Russia reported that Saudi Arabia is purchasing Pantsir anti-aircraft missile-and-artillery systems. If confirmed, this could pose a significant predicament as the purchase of Russian weapons could trigger the CAATSA sanctions by the United States, similar to the case with Turkey and the S-400s.
The Pantsir-S1 (also known as Pantsir or SA-22 Greyhound) is a close-in air defense system designed to defend ground installations against a variety of weapons, including fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, ballistic and cruise missiles, precision-guided munitions, and unmanned air vehicles.
It combines two 2A38M 30mm automatic anti-aircraft guns and twelve 57E6 surface-to-air missiles.
The system can engage targets at a range of up to 20 km and an altitude of up to 10 km.
The Pantsir-S1 is highly mobile and can be mounted on various truck chassis, making it suitable for rapid deployment and repositioning. It is equipped with a multi-range radar capable of detecting aerial targets with an effective surface of dispersion of up to 2-3 square meters at a distance of more than 30 kilometers and tracking them down from a distance of over 24 kilometers.
The original source of the news was either a report from the Saudi defense ministry or foreign publications referring to Russian ones.
The information was later verified by Defense Express, which found it in the 37th issue of the government magazine “Air Defense,” making it an official outlet.
The Pantsir system is listed among the new air defense systems introduced to the Saudi military, alongside the Chinese-made Silent Hunter anti-drone laser weapon, the U.S. THAAD missile defense system, the Thales Shikra surveillance radar, and other advanced systems.
This development raises questions about the potential implications for Saudi Arabia under the CAATSA law, given the U.S.’s previous inconsistent application of sanctions.
For instance, while Turkey faced sanctions for purchasing the S-400s, India’s similar purchase did not result in sanctions.