Russia Unveils Pantsir SMD-E With Only Missiles in Dubai to Counter Drone Swarm Threats
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Russia used the Dubai Airshow 2025 to unveil the export-oriented Pantsir SMD-E system, a missile-only short-range defense module designed for counter-drone missions. The display signals a larger Russian effort to revive arms exports and court buyers seeking affordable ways to stop UAV swarms.
As announced by the state-owned Rostec Corporation, on 14 November 2025, Russia is using the Dubai Airshow 2025 to showcase the export-oriented Pantsir SMD-E short-range air defense system, presenting the modular, missile-only variant as a dedicated answer to mass UAV attacks against critical infrastructure. The system, developed by High Precision Weapons, is part of a larger Russian push in Dubai, where Rosoboronexport is fielding what officials describe as a record national pavilion featuring more than 850 defense products for delegations from the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and beyond.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
Russia’s new Pantsir SMD-E air defense module, unveiled in Dubai, features a missile-only turret with up to 48 mini interceptors, a modern radar and electro-optical suite, and multi-channel tracking, delivering high-intensity protection against drones, FPV threats and low-flying munitions for fixed site defense (Picture source: social media).
Pantsir SMD-E is the most radical evolution of the Pantsir family so far, and it is very clearly designed around the drone problem rather than traditional aircraft. The familiar rotating turret remains, but the twin 30 mm automatic cannons have disappeared and the combat module is now missile-only. Launch rails accept either standard 57E6 E command guided missiles or new compact interceptors designated TKB 1055 in Russian sources. The module can be loaded with up to 12 of the larger missiles or as many as 48 mini missiles, or any mixed configuration, giving a single firing unit the sort of magazine depth that conventional SHORAD vehicles struggle to match in saturation UAV attacks.
The missile pairing defines how the system fights. According to data presented by KBP at the Army 2024 exhibition, the 57E6-E remains the long-reach option, engaging aircraft-sized targets between roughly 1.2 and 20 kilometers and altitudes up to about 15,000 meters. The TKB 1055 mini missile, by contrast, works in the very short-range band where quadcopters, FPV drones and small fixed-wing systems typically operate, from about 500 to 7,000 meters in range and 15 to 5,000 meters in altitude. Mini missiles are quad-packed into each canister position, which is how designers reach the 48-round loadout without enlarging the turret or changing reloading procedures. For an operator facing daily drone and loitering munition raids, that density of ready-to-fire interceptors is the real selling point.
Behind the missiles sits a completely reworked sensor and fire control suite that borrows heavily from the Russian domestic Pantsir SM family but is packaged for export and static use. The system is built around the RLS-O-E surveillance radar, which can detect a 1 square meter radar cross-section target at around 45 kilometers and track up to 40 targets simultaneously while cueing multiple combat modules. Each turret carries its own airspace search radar, a millimeter wave multifunction radar with phased array antenna, and a multispectral electro-optical station derived from the 10ES1 family, providing day, thermal and laser channels for fine tracking. This combination gives Pantsir SMD-E four simultaneous engagement channels and the ability, at least on paper, to discriminate low, slow drones against clutter in dense urban or industrial environments.
Architecturally, Pantsir SMD-E breaks away from the classic truck-mounted Pantsir S1 / S1M silhouette. The export system is split between a static combat module and a separate RLS-O-E surveillance radar that can manage up to four launchers. Both sit on rectangular steel frames instead of a dedicated chassis, which allows them to be craned onto building roofs, elevated towers, concrete pads or integrated on customer-supplied wheeled or tracked vehicles. Each combat module has its own generator and is controlled remotely over fiber optic cable by an operator who can be located up to roughly 500 meters away in a hardened shelter, which reduces crew exposure when the site is under attack.
In operational terms, that layout lends itself to point defense of high-value sites rather than maneuver brigade escort. A notional battery defending an air base or refinery in the Gulf could place the RLS O E radar on an elevated mast at the perimeter, with three or four combat modules distributed around key assets and linked back to a single protected control node by buried fiber. When a wave of 20 to 30 one-way attack UAVs approaches, the surveillance radar builds the air picture and hands off targets, while each combat module fires salvos of mini missiles to thin the swarm before any drone can acquire its aim point. With 48 interceptors per turret, a small cluster of modules can ride out several such attacks before reloading, which is precisely the niche Russian engineers say they were aiming at after watching multi-wave drone strikes in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Russian sources and outside analysts have documented how legacy Pantsir S1 gun and missile vehicles struggled to deliver reliable kills against very small UAVs at standoff distances, particularly when radar detection and fire control were tuned for larger, faster aircraft. In practice, the cannons consumed large amounts of ammunition, revealed the system’s position when firing and often forced crews to wait until drones were almost overhead. By moving to a missile-only turret with a layered mix of standard and mini interceptors, the SMD-E variant trades theoretical last-ditch gun coverage for more and cheaper guided shots in the engagement band where drones actually fly. That trade is controversial if one thinks in terms of classic air defense doctrine, but for export customers dealing with persistent quadcopter attacks on oil and gas terminals or government complexes, it is likely to look rational.
Pantsir SMD-E also sits at an inflection point in the evolution of the broader Pantsir family. Compared with the earlier export Pantsir S1 and the improved S1M, the new system abandons mobility in favor of modularity and magazine depth. Compared with the domestic Pantsir SM and the related Pantsir SMD now entering Russian service, the export model strips out longer-range missiles in favor of compact UAV killers while keeping the modern radar and processing architecture. For potential buyers who already operate S1 batteries, the SMD-E module can be marketed as a complementary inner ring that sits around long-range SAMs or vital infrastructure and absorbs the sheer volume of small drones and rockets that would otherwise saturate higher-end systems.
Dubai is not the first time foreign delegations have seen the new configuration. The static system made its international debut at IDEX 2025 in Abu Dhabi in February, after an initial unveiling at Russia’s Army 2024 defense exhibition near Moscow. What is different in Dubai is the scale and context. Rosoboronexport is using a 1,000 square meter national pavilion to present more than 850 Russian systems across airpower, missiles, UAVs and air defense, and Russian officials are explicit that the show is a key platform for rebuilding an export profile badly hit by sanctions and the demands of the war in Ukraine.
Russian arms exports fell sharply between 2015–19 and 2020–24, dropping its share of the global market and pushing it into third place behind the United States and France. Vladimir Putin has publicly told his military industrial chiefs that Russia must strengthen its position in the global arms market and actively increase the volume of export deliveries, even as factories are stretched to sustain operations in Ukraine. For Moscow, a highly topical anti-drone system like Pantsir SMD-E, billed as combat tested in current conflicts and pitched at a lower cost point than many Western and Israeli counter-UAV solutions, is a logical spearhead for that export push.
For Gulf monarchies, North African states and Asian partners presentg in Dubai, Pantsir SMD-E promises a dense magazine of interceptors, a radar and EO suite tuned for low signature drones and a modular architecture that can be bolted onto existing infrastructure rather than demanding large fleets of trucks. At the same time, sanctions, payment mechanisms and political risk will weigh heavily on any decision to sign contracts with Russian suppliers. Western pressure on third countries not to buy Russian weapons, and the risk that future rounds of sanctions could disrupt support and spares, are now a standard part of the calculus for any prospective customer.
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Russia used the Dubai Airshow 2025 to unveil the export-oriented Pantsir SMD-E system, a missile-only short-range defense module designed for counter-drone missions. The display signals a larger Russian effort to revive arms exports and court buyers seeking affordable ways to stop UAV swarms.
As announced by the state-owned Rostec Corporation, on 14 November 2025, Russia is using the Dubai Airshow 2025 to showcase the export-oriented Pantsir SMD-E short-range air defense system, presenting the modular, missile-only variant as a dedicated answer to mass UAV attacks against critical infrastructure. The system, developed by High Precision Weapons, is part of a larger Russian push in Dubai, where Rosoboronexport is fielding what officials describe as a record national pavilion featuring more than 850 defense products for delegations from the Middle East, North Africa, Asia and beyond.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
Russia’s new Pantsir SMD-E air defense module, unveiled in Dubai, features a missile-only turret with up to 48 mini interceptors, a modern radar and electro-optical suite, and multi-channel tracking, delivering high-intensity protection against drones, FPV threats and low-flying munitions for fixed site defense (Picture source: social media).
Pantsir SMD-E is the most radical evolution of the Pantsir family so far, and it is very clearly designed around the drone problem rather than traditional aircraft. The familiar rotating turret remains, but the twin 30 mm automatic cannons have disappeared and the combat module is now missile-only. Launch rails accept either standard 57E6 E command guided missiles or new compact interceptors designated TKB 1055 in Russian sources. The module can be loaded with up to 12 of the larger missiles or as many as 48 mini missiles, or any mixed configuration, giving a single firing unit the sort of magazine depth that conventional SHORAD vehicles struggle to match in saturation UAV attacks.
The missile pairing defines how the system fights. According to data presented by KBP at the Army 2024 exhibition, the 57E6-E remains the long-reach option, engaging aircraft-sized targets between roughly 1.2 and 20 kilometers and altitudes up to about 15,000 meters. The TKB 1055 mini missile, by contrast, works in the very short-range band where quadcopters, FPV drones and small fixed-wing systems typically operate, from about 500 to 7,000 meters in range and 15 to 5,000 meters in altitude. Mini missiles are quad-packed into each canister position, which is how designers reach the 48-round loadout without enlarging the turret or changing reloading procedures. For an operator facing daily drone and loitering munition raids, that density of ready-to-fire interceptors is the real selling point.
Behind the missiles sits a completely reworked sensor and fire control suite that borrows heavily from the Russian domestic Pantsir SM family but is packaged for export and static use. The system is built around the RLS-O-E surveillance radar, which can detect a 1 square meter radar cross-section target at around 45 kilometers and track up to 40 targets simultaneously while cueing multiple combat modules. Each turret carries its own airspace search radar, a millimeter wave multifunction radar with phased array antenna, and a multispectral electro-optical station derived from the 10ES1 family, providing day, thermal and laser channels for fine tracking. This combination gives Pantsir SMD-E four simultaneous engagement channels and the ability, at least on paper, to discriminate low, slow drones against clutter in dense urban or industrial environments.
Architecturally, Pantsir SMD-E breaks away from the classic truck-mounted Pantsir S1 / S1M silhouette. The export system is split between a static combat module and a separate RLS-O-E surveillance radar that can manage up to four launchers. Both sit on rectangular steel frames instead of a dedicated chassis, which allows them to be craned onto building roofs, elevated towers, concrete pads or integrated on customer-supplied wheeled or tracked vehicles. Each combat module has its own generator and is controlled remotely over fiber optic cable by an operator who can be located up to roughly 500 meters away in a hardened shelter, which reduces crew exposure when the site is under attack.
In operational terms, that layout lends itself to point defense of high-value sites rather than maneuver brigade escort. A notional battery defending an air base or refinery in the Gulf could place the RLS O E radar on an elevated mast at the perimeter, with three or four combat modules distributed around key assets and linked back to a single protected control node by buried fiber. When a wave of 20 to 30 one-way attack UAVs approaches, the surveillance radar builds the air picture and hands off targets, while each combat module fires salvos of mini missiles to thin the swarm before any drone can acquire its aim point. With 48 interceptors per turret, a small cluster of modules can ride out several such attacks before reloading, which is precisely the niche Russian engineers say they were aiming at after watching multi-wave drone strikes in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Russian sources and outside analysts have documented how legacy Pantsir S1 gun and missile vehicles struggled to deliver reliable kills against very small UAVs at standoff distances, particularly when radar detection and fire control were tuned for larger, faster aircraft. In practice, the cannons consumed large amounts of ammunition, revealed the system’s position when firing and often forced crews to wait until drones were almost overhead. By moving to a missile-only turret with a layered mix of standard and mini interceptors, the SMD-E variant trades theoretical last-ditch gun coverage for more and cheaper guided shots in the engagement band where drones actually fly. That trade is controversial if one thinks in terms of classic air defense doctrine, but for export customers dealing with persistent quadcopter attacks on oil and gas terminals or government complexes, it is likely to look rational.
Pantsir SMD-E also sits at an inflection point in the evolution of the broader Pantsir family. Compared with the earlier export Pantsir S1 and the improved S1M, the new system abandons mobility in favor of modularity and magazine depth. Compared with the domestic Pantsir SM and the related Pantsir SMD now entering Russian service, the export model strips out longer-range missiles in favor of compact UAV killers while keeping the modern radar and processing architecture. For potential buyers who already operate S1 batteries, the SMD-E module can be marketed as a complementary inner ring that sits around long-range SAMs or vital infrastructure and absorbs the sheer volume of small drones and rockets that would otherwise saturate higher-end systems.
Dubai is not the first time foreign delegations have seen the new configuration. The static system made its international debut at IDEX 2025 in Abu Dhabi in February, after an initial unveiling at Russia’s Army 2024 defense exhibition near Moscow. What is different in Dubai is the scale and context. Rosoboronexport is using a 1,000 square meter national pavilion to present more than 850 Russian systems across airpower, missiles, UAVs and air defense, and Russian officials are explicit that the show is a key platform for rebuilding an export profile badly hit by sanctions and the demands of the war in Ukraine.
Russian arms exports fell sharply between 2015–19 and 2020–24, dropping its share of the global market and pushing it into third place behind the United States and France. Vladimir Putin has publicly told his military industrial chiefs that Russia must strengthen its position in the global arms market and actively increase the volume of export deliveries, even as factories are stretched to sustain operations in Ukraine. For Moscow, a highly topical anti-drone system like Pantsir SMD-E, billed as combat tested in current conflicts and pitched at a lower cost point than many Western and Israeli counter-UAV solutions, is a logical spearhead for that export push.
For Gulf monarchies, North African states and Asian partners presentg in Dubai, Pantsir SMD-E promises a dense magazine of interceptors, a radar and EO suite tuned for low signature drones and a modular architecture that can be bolted onto existing infrastructure rather than demanding large fleets of trucks. At the same time, sanctions, payment mechanisms and political risk will weigh heavily on any decision to sign contracts with Russian suppliers. Western pressure on third countries not to buy Russian weapons, and the risk that future rounds of sanctions could disrupt support and spares, are now a standard part of the calculus for any prospective customer.
