Israel's military massacre of Palestinian Gaza residents has sparked reactions from Russia and Syria. Although the two countries are not directly involved militarily in the conflict with Israel. However, there is news that Syria will send Russian-made heavy weapons to the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia. And those who have the mandate to send these weapons are Russian mercenaries, who are members of the Wagner Group.
Quoted by The Wall Street Journal – wsj.com (2/11/2023), United States intelligence sources claimed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had agreed to provide the Russian-made Pantsir S-1 missile defense system to the Lebanese militia group Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, the Russian mercenary organization, Wagner Group, operating in Syria, was assigned to deliver the Pantsir S-1 system. It's unclear if it has been delivered or how close to delivery it will be. The Pantsir S-1 hanud system was originally provided by Russia for use by the Syrian government.
Wagner and Hezbollah forces have operated in Syria for years, where they cooperate with Russian and Syrian armed forces to support the Assad regime against the Syrian opposition. Western intelligence sources say there is evidence of increasing collaboration between Hezbollah and Wagner in Syria.
The possibility that Hezbollah will soon have a new air defense system comes amid concerns that the militia is considering opening a new front in Israel's war against Hamas, on Israel's northern border with Lebanon. The US has repeatedly warned Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups to avoid conflict and has stationed aircraft carriers and troops in the region to try to prevent potential escalation.
It is unclear how much influence Russia had on the decision to provide Hezbollah with the system. Since the death of Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in August, the Kremlin has made several attempts to absorb Wagner mercenaries and the group's assets.
But Russia hosted Hamas leaders in Moscow earlier this month, angering the Israeli government. It is believed that the deployment of the Panstir S-1 hanud system from Syria to the Hezbollah militia will not have much impact on Israel's combat readiness.
In May 2018, Israeli fighter jets successfully launched air strikes on Syrian territory, including those destroyed by Israel's Pantsir S-1 Spike NLOS missile.
Information then emerged regarding the destruction of the Pantsir S-1. As quoted from DefenseWorld.net (3/2/2020), it was stated that the root cause of the destruction of the Pantsir-S1 system was a cellphone, aka the cell phone belonging to the Syrian Pantsir-S1 operator.
Valery Slugin, chief designer of the Design Bureau of Instrument Engineering which developed the Pantsir system, said in an interview on the TASS website.
He explained how the Pantsir-S1 system could be easily detected by Israeli fighter jets. At the time of the incident, the Pantsir battery was reported to have run out of missiles and cannon ammunition, so the Pantsir-S1 operator was waiting for the next shipment of ammunition.
The operators were waiting some distance from the Pantsir-S1 system, and unfortunately one of them apparently left an active cellphone on the operator's chair. That's where the problem arose, Israeli intelligence was able to analyze the signal emitted from the operator's cell phone and as a result the position of the Pantsir-S1 battery was known.
The Pantsir S-1 carries a hybrid concept and also prioritizes SHORAD (Short Range Air Defense) elements through the presence of a four-barreled 30 mm cannon. Meanwhile, the need for medium-range hanud is provided through the 57E6 missile configuration.
Both cannons and missiles are packaged in one vehicle, plus the platform can move independently with a generator, sensor device, FCS (fire control system) control room and radar all integrated in a container on one truck.