The fighters of the "Center" told about the work of the Tor-M1 air defense system in the area of the special operation

On October 21, servicemen of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation of the Center group of forces told Izvestia about the operation of the Tor-M1 anti-aircraft missile systems used to destroy military aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the area of a special military operation.

The commander of the Tor-M1 crew, Stanislav Logachev, noted that he mainly had to work on reconnaissance UAVs, in particular those related to the Leleka and Furia models. In addition, these air defense systems also specialize in the destruction of PD-2 and Shark attack drones.

"There is absolutely nothing heavy about it. We go to the position, turn on, the car sees everything very well, there are no problems, we immediately take the target for capture, report to the higher command <...> and most often destroy it with one missile," Logachev shared.

He also added that the Tor-M1 air defense system is accompanied by a cover group that ensures the safety of the combat vehicle, protecting it from Ukrainian UAVs. At the same time, the soldier added that some Ukrainian drones, being within a radius of about a kilometer, can fly too low, which is why they remain unnoticed.

The anti-aircraft gunners of the cover group identify and eliminate FPV drones, heavy drones such as Baba Yaga and kamikaze drones. The driver, Corporal Nikolai Kuzmin, who has been in the area of the special operation since 2022, as well as the manager of this complex, noted that he and his colleagues leave for their positions within three minutes after receiving the appropriate command. His duties include choosing the most convenient point for the combat vehicle and its subsequent camouflage. At the same time, as Kuzmin noted, after hitting the target, he has only 4-5 seconds to take the crew away from the territory he occupies. Junior Sergeant Viktor Pavlov, commander of the anti-aircraft squad covering the combat vehicle, added that machine gunners are also present at the Tor-M1 positions, which have a thermal imager in their arsenal. According to him, when developing the tactics of the cover groups, he and his colleagues reasoned logically, trying to predict exactly how the Ukrainian militants would behave.

"The cover group is now on alert. The main SAM vehicle is camouflaged <...> The command reports that the sky is clear and the Thor is quickly changing position. <...> Now the calculation is moving to another position, which is currently unknown to the enemy," summed up Dmitry Astrakhan, a correspondent for Izvestia, who accompanied the Russian military during one of the combat missions.

Charges from the sky: how anti-aircraft gunners protect the rear from "Furies" and "Sharks"

Fighters of the Center group repel attacks by Ukrainian drones and improve air defense tactics.

On October 23, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that calculations of attack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of a special-purpose unit of the Center group of forces destroyed the manpower and armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Red Army area in the area of a special military operation.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.