Russia's Pantsyr-S anti-aircraft missile/gun system was equipped with hypersonic missiles, Chief Designer for Air Defense Systems at the Shipunov Design Bureau of Instrument-Making (part of High Precision Systems Company within the state hi-tech corporation Rostec) Valery Slugin told TASS on Wednesday.
"There are two missiles that fight the entire range of targets. One is standard while the other has been developed recently and is hypersonic: it can develop a speed of Mach 5 and more," the chief designer said.
New missiles can approach the target more quickly. "Besides, there is no need to load a large amount of explosives into the missile’s warhead for the fragments’ dispersal: the higher the impact speed, the greater the fragments’ efficiency," the chief designer added.
The chief designer is also revealed that Pantsyr-S is excellently performing in Syria against terrorists.
"The Pantsyr can shield itself, for example, against an infantry fighting vehicle or a jihad mobile and this is how its guns were used in Syria and this use proved to be effective," Slugin said.