By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russia’s Air Force is preparing to deploy a second regiment equipped with new S-400 air defence systems, an Air Force official said.
“A second S-400 regiment will soon be deployed,” Colonel General Alexander Zelin told journalists Friday.
The new systems will protect the air space around Moscow and industrial zones in the centre of Russia’s European territory.
The S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) air defence system is expected to form the new cornerstone of Russia’s theatre air and missile defences up to 2020 or even 2025.
Russia successfully conducted last year live firing tests of the S-400 air defence complex at the Kapustin Yar firing range in Russia’s Astrakhan Region, and deployed a battalion of the first missile regiment equipped with the new system to protect the airspace surrounding Moscow.
The S-400 is designed to intercept and destroy airborne targets at a distance of up to 400 km, twice the range of the US MIM-104 Patriot, and 2.5 times that of the S-300PMU-2.
The system is also believed to be able to destroy stealth aircraft, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, with an effective range of up to 3,500 km and a speed of up to 4.8 km per second.
A regular S-400 battalion comprises at least eight launchers with 32 missiles and a mobile command post, according to sources. The new state arms procurement programme until 2015, stipulates the purchase of S-400 air defence systems to arm 18 battalions during this period.