Partner 2023: MTI rolls out new member of Pasars-16 family

The Pasars-16 has received four Rada radars and is armed with one 40 mm cannon, two types of surface-to-air missiles, and a pair of anti-tank guided missiles. (Janes/Christopher Petrov)

Serbia's Military Technical Institute (MTI) has developed a new version of the Pasars-16 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun and missile system.

The new variant was debuted at the Partner 2023 defence exhibition in Belgrade and features Rada's RPS-42 radar, otherwise known as the Multi-Mission Hemispheric Radar.

Pasars-16 carries an array of weaponry. It is equipped with a single-barrel 40 mm L/70 Bofors autocannon believed to feature an electro-optical system for targeting. MTI is also developing programmable airburst munitions to improve the efficiency of the autocannon against small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and quadcopters. The system is also equipped with a UAV jamming suite, above which is positioned a small Doppler radar that can be used to detect the speed of rounds exiting the cannon. This data can then be fed into the fire-control system to correct the aiming of the L/70.

The system is also armed with two sets of surface-to-air missiles. On one side of the turret is a pair of Mistral 3 ER (extended-range) manportable air-defence systems (MANPADSs), and on the other is a pair of Strela-2MA MANPADS. It is understood that this arrangement is intended to balance the higher cost of the more effective Mistral 3s with the large number of Strela-2 systems in Serbian inventories.

At Partner 2023, the Pasars-16 was also shown fitted with a modernised Malyutka anti-tank guided missile. This enables the vehicle to engage ground targets if necessary.