PASARS-16 (

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

n: ПАСАРС-16) is a Serbian mobile hybrid short range air defence system intended for the protection of infantry, armoured mechanized and artillery-missile units from low flying aircraft, cruise missiles,

unmanned aerial vehicles An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...

and other projectiles. Based on the FAP 2026BS/AV

six-wheel drive Six-wheel drive (6WD or 6×6) is an all-wheel drive drivetrain configuration of three axles with at least two wheels on each axle capable of being driven simultaneously by the vehicle's engine. Unlike four-wheel drive drivetrains, the configurat ...

general purpose off-road military chassis, the armoured rotary turret mounted at the rear of the vehicle is armed with a single barrel Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft gun and one or more surface-to-air missiles linked to a modernized M85 Žirafa radar.

Development

PASARS-16 is designed by the

Military Technical Institute Military Technical Institute ( sr, Војнотехнички институт, Vojnotehnički institut; abbr. ) is a Serbian weapons and aircraft design institute, headquartered in Belgrade, and governed by the Serbian Ministry of Defence. It ...

. Serial production started in 2019, with armoured turret being constructed by

Zastava TERVO Zastava TERVO ( sr, Застава ТЕРВО, Zastava TERVO), short for "Zastava Terenska Vozila" ( sr, Застава Теренска Возила, Zastava Terenska Vozila; English: "Zastava Terrain Vehicles"), is a Serbian automotive and d ...

, hydraulics and integration of the armaments being done by FAP and

PPT Namenska PPT Namenska ( sr, ППТ Наменска, PPT Namenska) is a Serbian manufacturer of arms, mortars, grenade launchers, unmanned ground vehicle, hydraulics and pneumatics, airplane parts and some complex weapons system including modernized M-77 ...

, and final assembly being carried out by Srboauto.

Gun

The PASARS-16 main armament is the Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft autocannon. Designed in the 1930s by the Swedish arms manufacturer

Bofors AB Bofors ( , , ) is a former Swedish arms manufacturer which today is part of the British arms concern BAE Systems. The name has been associated with the iron industry and artillery manufacturing for more than 350 years. History Located ...

, during the 1970s Serbian arms manufacturer

Zastava Arms Zastava Arms ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Застава oружје, Zastava oružje) is a Serbian manufacturer of firearms and artillery, based in Kragujevac, Serbia. It was founded in 1853 when it cast its first cannon. It is the leading producer of firear ...

acquired a license from Bofors to produce the L/70 version. Ammunition for the autocannon is produced by Serbian company Sloboda. In 2020 a new programmable

airburst An air burst or airburst is the detonation of an explosive device such as an anti-personnel artillery shell or a nuclear weapon in the air instead of on contact with the ground or target. The principal military advantage of an air burst over ...

ammunition containing 1100

tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isol ...

pellets was reportedly developed for use by the PASARS-16. The PASARS has been spotted with a laser rangefinder and day/night sighting system.

Missiles

Mistral

Total of 18 sets with 50 French Mistral 3 missiles were procured by the Serbian Armed Forces in 2021 and planned to be integrated on PASARS-16.

RLN-1C and RLN-1C/170

The PASARS-16 uses RLN-1C missiles i.e. modified Vympel K-13 (R-13M) short-range, infrared homing air-to-air missile. Modifications by the

were made to improve the rocket's propulsion block, in order to effectively launch the missile from the ground along with integration of a more powerful warhead with a modern proximity fuse and a modernized infrared homing system that directs the missile to the target.

9K38 Igla

Operators

: 18 in service with the

Serbian Army The Serbian Army ( sr-cyr, Копнена војска Србије, Kopnena vojska Srbije, lit=Serbian Land Army) is the land-based and the largest component of the Serbian Armed Forces. History Originally established in 1830 as the Army of Pr ...

References

External links

{{Commons category, PASARS 16
"Giraffe" radar and "PASARS-16" Demonstration Video - Serbian Ministry of Defence (2020)PASARS-16 3P Product Demonstration - Serbian Ministry of Defence (2020)
Military vehicles introduced in the 2010s Self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons of Serbia Self-propelled anti-aircraft weapons 40 mm artillery Military Technical Institute Belgrade