Pantsir-S1 which is considered to be the best anti air vehicle currently in game was added 2 years ago and since then there have been numerous top tier jets with various new air to ground weapons added to the game. It is time to add new anti air vehicles to balance them out for ground players.
This is a list of anti air vehicles with the potential to be added to the game (feel free to suggest more in the comments or fix any mistakes this list has):
SPYDER
“Surface-to-air Python and Derby” is an Israeli short and medium range mobile air defense system that can carry 4 Python-5 or Derby missiles in any combination per MFU and can be placed on many platforms.
Missiles:
Python-5:
- Length: 310 cm
- Span: 64 cm
- Diameter: 16 cm
- Weight: 105 kg
- Guidance: infrared homing + electro-optical imaging
- Warhead: 11 kg
- Speed: Mach 4
Derby:
- Length: 362 cm
- Span: 64 cm
- Diameter: 16 cm
- Weight: 118 kg
- Guidance: Active radar homing
- Warhead: 23 kg
- Speed: Mach 4
SPYDER can be a great addition specially because it is used by many countries around the world and many nations in War Thunder can receive it in game such as Israel, Great Britain (India), Japan/China (Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam), Italy (Ethiopia), Germany/USSR (Czech Republic) and USA (Peru).
IRIS-T SLS
IRIS-T SLS MK. III was introduced in 2022 Eurosatory. It was a modified Mowag Eagle 6×6 armored vehicle integrated with IRIS-T SLS launcher, Hensoldt Spexer 2000 3D AESA, and a .50 machine gun in the remote controlled weapon station. Its STANAG 4569 protection was level 1, and it could be upgraded to level 3 by adding armor kit.
Apart from Germany, Sweden and Norway purchased IRIS-T SLS missiles as well but they were not used in an all-in-one vehicle and rather the radar and the missile launchers were separate vehicles but Gaijin can theoretically make an exception here and give both the Germany and Sweden the IRIS-T SLS MK. III.
NASAMS
“National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System” is a short to medium range ground based air defense system that uses the currently available air to air missiles such as the AIM-120, AIM-9X and IRIS-T.
The launcher can be placed on multiple platforms and can also be adapted as an all-in-one vehicle and is already in use by many countries around the world and can be added to many nations in game such as USA, Sweden (Norway, Finland), China (Taiwan), Great Britain (Australia), France (Netherlands) and Italy (Hungary, Spain).
Tor-M2 and Tor-E2
The Tor missile system has been upgraded several times both by Russia and China and we already have the upgraded Chinese version in game so its only fair to get the upgraded Russian versions as well.
There are quite a couple of upgrades on Tor and here are the upgrades:
- 9K332 Tor-M2E:
Tor-M2E was unveiled at the 2007 MAKS Airshow which had improved fire control radar coverage, and
four guidance channels, allowing up to four targets to be engaged simultaneously while also having protection against spoofing. It could carry 8 missiles 9M331 or 16 missiles 9M338 with increased altitude and range. Tor-M2 missiles have a range of 16 km, maximum altitude of 10 km and maximum speed of 1000 m/s. The system is capable of short-stop firing, which takes 2–3 seconds for the system to go from motion to stationary and firing of the missile. The Tor-M2E is offered in either wheeled or tracked chassis and is equipped with a new digital computer system and all weather optical tracking system. - Tor-M2E (9К332МE):
With a 9А331МE tracked chassis mounting two 9M334 missile modules with four 9М9331 missiles. Crew of 2. The system is fully automated. - Tor-M2K (9К332МК):
With a wheeled 9А331МК chassis developed by the Belarusian company MZKT mounting two 9M334 missile modules, each with four 9М9331 missiles. - Tor-М2КМ (9К331МКМ):
Modular design (towed variant weight reduced to 15 tons), to accommodate various types of chassis. 9А331МК-1 TELAR mounting two 9M334 missile modules with four 9M9331 missiles. At MAKS-2013 this was shown on an Indian Tata chassis. The affected area expanded to height – 10 km, distance – 15. Crew of 2. Chance to destroy any target 98% as a minimum. Significantly improves the penetrating power of warhead fragments. The system is fully automated. Modules weighing 15 tons are installed on ships of the Russian Navy. - Tor-M1-2U:
“Tor-M1-2U” entered service at the end of 2012. This system is designed to destroy aircraft, helicopters, UAVs, missiles, and other precision guided weapons, flying at medium, low and very low altitudes in all weather. The system is able to engage four targets simultaneously at a height of up to 10 kilometers. Its crew consists of three people. It can hit targets on the move, at a speed of up to 25 km/h (includes all the necessary functions for independent fight). - Tor-M2DT:
The system is especially designed to be used for Arctic region at temperatures up to −50 degrees °C based on the chassis of the DT-30PM tracked all-terrain vehicle and is capable of detecting over 40 air targets, especially high-precision weapons, and to track and engage up to four of them simultaneously at a range of up to 12 km and altitudes up to 10 km with its 16 missiles even on the move. Its creation was completed in 2018 and the first delivery of 12 systems was held in November of the same year. - Tor-E2:
Tor-E2 combat vehicle is an independent, mobile, all-terrain fighting unit that provides detection and identification of air targets on the march and at the halt, target lock-on and engagement at the halt, from a short stop and on the move. A battery of the four-channel Tor-E2 SAM systems, consisting of four combat vehicles, can simultaneously engage up to 16 targets flying from any direction at a range of at least 15 km and an altitude of up to 12 km. Each vehicle carries 16 missiles. Two Tor-E2 combat vehicles can operate in the “link” mode, which enables them to exchange information about the air situation at different altitude ranges and coordinate joint engagement operations. In this mode, one of the combat vehicles, acting from an ambush, receives information from the other one and does not reveal itself until the launch of the missile. A command post can be attached to a battery of four Tor-E2 combat vehicles to control and coordinate the Tor combat vehicles and interact with air defense control system.
Pantsir
Tor wasn’t the only anti air system that was upgraded by Russia, Pantsir has received multiple upgrades as well and here is a list of them:
- Pantsir-S1M:
An upgraded variant of the Pantsir-S1 first unveiled in February 2019. Experience from deploying the system in Syria was applied during the development of the new modification. It has an upgraded L-band search radar with ability to track up to 40 targets at once and new multifunctional EHF fire-control radar that can engage four targets simultaneously, both fitted with phased antenna arrays. The system uses a new 57E6M-E surface-to-air missile with an increased ceiling from 15 to 18 km (9.3 to 11.2 mi), an engagement range from 20 to 30 km (12 to 19 mi) and a speed of 1,300 to 1,700 m/s (4,700 to 6,100 km/h; 2,900 to 3,800 mph). It has a 25 kg fragmentation warhead, compared to the 20 kg warhead of the standard 57E6-E missile. - Pantsir-S2/S2E:
A modernized system for the Russian Armed Forces and for export. Incorporates new tracking radar, two faced radars with enhanced features and range. It is in service with Russia, Syria and Algeria. - Pantsir-SM:
The Pantsir-SM variant incorporates a multi-functional targeting station, increasing target detection range from 40 to 75 km (25 to 47 mi) and engagement range from 20 to 40 km (12 to 25 mi). The system uses a new high-speed extended range missile. Existing Pantsir systems can be upgraded to SM standard. It is fitted to a new 8×8 Kamaz truck chassis with an armored cab. Development was completed in 2019. - Pantsir-SA:
After testing Pantsir in the Arctic, it was decided to design a new variant specifically for the Arctic, to use at temperatures below −50 °C (−58 °F) called the Pantsir-SA. This variant has no 30 mm auto-cannon mounted and it is based on an articulated tracked Vityaz vehicle. It is in service with the Russian Northern Fleet as of August 2020. - Pantsir-SMD-E:
A version unveiled in the “Army-2024” forum. It removes the cannons and could carry 12 57E6-series short-range missiles or 48 TKB-1055 very-short-range interceptors, or a mix of the two types.
And on a side note, Ethiopia operates 6 Pantsir systems so technically Italy can get Pantsirs as well (specially because Italy lacks a top tier anti air missile defense system)
Multi-Mission Launcher
The Multi-Mission Launcher (MML) is an open-systems architecture multi-role missile launching system similar to NASAMS that can launch various missiles such as the Stinger, AIM-9X, Hellfire and even the Tamir missiles. The vehicle itself can be paired with a radar but since it mainly uses IR missiles it can operate fine without one just like the Type 93 anti air vehicle.
Please note that this post is supposed to list the more modern anti air missile systems that have not been added yet and not all the missile systems that are not in the game since there are lots of 1980s and 90s anti air missile systems that have not been added to the game but even if they are added they will not be able to counter top tier CAS. With that being said please let me know what you think about these vehicles added to the game and if you have any more suggestions.
Thanks for reading!
