Russia’s New Pantsir SMD-E Drone Defense System Debuts in Dubai

Russia has unveiled its new Pantsir SMD-E missile-only short-range air defense module at the Dubai Airshow 2025, presenting the export-oriented system as a dedicated solution to counter drone swarms and other low-flying threats, according to Army Recognition on November 18. 

Army Recognition reported that the Pantsir SMD-E is the latest evolution of the Pantsir family and removes the twin 30 mm automatic cannons in favor of a turret equipped solely with surface-to-air missiles.

The combat module can be loaded with up to 12 standard 57E6-E 
command-guided missiles or as many as 48 compact TKB-1055 mini-interceptors, or any combination of the two.

Army Recognition stated that the Pantsir SMD-E is based on the RLS-O-E  surveillance radar, which can detect targets with a radar cross-section of 1 square meter at a range of approximately 45 kilometers and track up to 40 targets simultaneously, cueing multiple combat modules for engagement.

Each turret carries its own multifunction radar and a multispectral electro-optical station from the 10ES1 family, providing day, thermal, and laser channels and giving the system four simultaneous engagement channels designed to discriminate small, slow drones against ground clutter in complex environments. 

Bekhan Ozdoev, Industrial Director of Rostec’s Weapons Cluster, said the system has already drawn strong interest from foreign partners and stated that “the threat of large-scale UAV attacks is now recognized worldwide,” adding that the modular Pantsir can be deployed on building rooftops or specially prepared sites to provide flexible protection for infrastructure. 

At the same time, it was reported that Ukraine will be the first to deploy the French DWS-1 “drone wall” system, which utilizes up to 200 FPV interceptor drones, coordinated by AI, to form a last-line defensive barrier against Shaheds and guided bombs around critical infrastructure.

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