NEW DELHI – Pakistan has decided to buy Russian-made Pantsir MissileSystem from Moscow.
Pantsir is a medium-range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraftartillery weapon system.
Pakistan is now planning to send a delegation to Moscow to finalise thedeal and also have an arrangement for training defence personnel to PantsirMissile System.
“Pakistan is buying the latest and modernised weapons system to counterIndia. Pakistan is eyeing to procure tanks to anti-aircraft guns andsurface-to-air missile system from Russia,” an Indian Defence Ministryofficial, aware of these developments, told to Zee News.
As per an earlier report, Pakistan has drawn up a plan to also procure 360T-90 tanks from Russia to bolster its combat power along the border withIndia.
T-90 tanks are the backbone of armoured regiments of the Indian Army.
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Pakistan is trying to forge a deeper defence corporation with Russia, whichhas been India’s ‘all-weather’ ally and shares a defence relationship thatgoes back to the Soviet era.
Pakistan trying for closer ties with Russia is evident from joint militaryexercises along with defence deals which have triggered concerns in NewDelhi.
Equipped with an array of radars for tackling and target-acquisition,Pantsir system is able to counter enemy air attacks employing precisionmunitions at the low to extremely low ranges. It also provides air defencecover to military installations against aircraft, helicopters, cruisemissile and UAVs.
In another effort to revamp its armored fleet, Pakistan has decided to buyclose to 600 tanks with Chinese help. At present, over 70 per cent ofPakistani tanks have night-time operational capabilities which is a concernfor India.
