April 24, 2024 (EIRNS)—Russia is upgrading its air defense systems to include the first delivery of the brand new road mobile S-500 Prometheus long-range anti-air/anti-missile system to Russian air defense forces. “One of the priorities for the development of the Aerospace Forces is to equip the Air Defense and Anti-Missile Defense forces with promising weapons,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in an address to a regular meeting of the Defense Ministry Board yesterday. “Today, the proportion of modern samples has reached 82%, and this figure needs to be increased to 85% in the next two years.”
Shoigu said that in 2024, air defense forces are slated to the first samples of a new generation S-500 anti-aircraft missile system in two modifications: long-range anti-aircraft missile systems and anti-missile defense systems; and further deliveries of the S-400, S-300V4, Buk-M3, and Tor-M2U anti-aircraft missile systems, and along new generation radars. He also noted that production of the Pantsir truck-mounted anti-aircraft system has proved highly reliable in combat and that its production will be nearly doubled.
Sputnik, in a report posted yesterday, claims the following capabilities for the S-500: a range of up to 600 km, and the ability to detect targets at up to 800 km away; the ability to target up to 10 ballistic supersonic targets flying at speeds up to 7 km/s; it can also attack targets flying at hypersonic speeds (up to Mach 10, or 12,348 km per hour); the S-500 has sufficient range to disable enemy missiles, spacecraft, and orbital weapons platforms in space at low-Earth orbits; its interceptor missiles can maneuver in flight, and feature independent onboard radar components enabling them to engage in kinetic attacks.
Shoigu also updated the Defense Ministry Board on the status of the special military operation in Ukraine. He reported that the Russian Groups of Forces hold the initiative along the entire line of contact and continue to push the enemy out of the line of contact, that is, to the west.
