Counter-UAS from Russia: Bison and Pantsir SMD-E at the El Alamein Airshow 2026

Labelled “combat-proven”, Russia showed its current ground-based air defence systems at the El Alamein International Airshow 2026 – including counter-UAS solutions.

The El Alamein International Airshow 2026 was held from 8 to 10 September at El Alamein airport in Egypt. There, the Russian arms export agency Rosoboronexport/Rostec also presented the country’s latest air defence systems to the numerous trade visitors. On display were thus the systems with which, according to Russia, it intercepts hundreds of Ukrainian drones day after day.

Bison: machine guns as the last line of counter-UAS defence

The youngest member of the air defence family is TKB-1167 Bison, a close-in defence system against unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). It was presented internationally for the first time in Egypt. The system description states:

“The Bison system is designed to engage small, low-flying aerial targets that are difficult to engage for conventional air defence systems. Four PKT machine guns in 7.62 × 54 millimetre calibre are used to engage these targets. The system automatically detects and acquires the drones and transmits the target data to the operator. The operator then merely decides on their destruction”— System description TKB-1167 Bison

As part of the last line of defence, Bison is to engage incoming drones with volume fire in the final seconds before impact. The manufacturer states that the system can operate both autonomously and integrated into a multi-layered air defence system. When networked, it can receive data from that system and pass data on to it.

Bison was shown on a two-axle trailer; mounting on vehicles is also possible. At 800 rounds per minute per PKT machine gun, the four barrels together achieve a rate of fire of 3,200 rounds per minute. If one of the PKT machine guns fails due to a stoppage, the system also remains operational to a certain degree. Each PKT machine gun has 2,400 rounds ready on the mount, theoretically enough for up to three minutes of continuous fire.

TKB-1167 Bison detects even targets with a very small radar signature at a distance of 280 to 800 metres. The turret can traverse 360 degrees, and the elevation range is given as at least 50 degrees. Targets are engaged at distances of up to 400 metres and altitudes of up to 200 metres.

Pantsir SMD-E relies on a missile mix

The Pantsir SMD-E air defence system, which premiered at the Dubai Airshow 2025, has been known for some time. Unlike the mobile Pantsir-S1 from which it is derived, it does without automatic cannons and instead uses missiles for different ranges.

Instead of a medium-range missile, a bundle of four TKB-1055 Gvozd short-range missiles can be mounted on the launcher via the TKB-1056 adapter. For longer distances, the system can fire the two-stage 57E6-E and 57E6M-E missiles. The details:

• TKB-1055 Gvozd: up to 700 metres per second, corresponding to Mach 2.1, range ten kilometres
• 57E6-E: up to Mach 4.25, range 20 kilometres, intercept altitude up to 15 kilometres
• 57E6M-E: Mach 5.56, range 35 to 37 kilometres, intercept altitude 20 to 21 kilometres

All three missiles are credited with a manoeuvrability of 40 g – in the case of the 57E6-E and 57E6M-E after the booster stage has been jettisoned. Fully loaded, a Pantsir SMD-E carries 24 short-range and six medium-range missiles. Target acquisition is handled by an S-band ASCS phased-array radar measuring 1 × 1.2 metres. It is said to detect micro-UAVs at four kilometres and small aircraft at 30 kilometres. Up to 20 targets can be tracked simultaneously.

According to Bekkhan Ozdoyev of the Russian group Rostec, “production volumes are sufficient both for the army and for export”. Russia hopes to find buyers for the systems in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. So far, however, nothing has been heard of any export successes.