MOSCOW: Russia will deploy a second regiment equipped with new S-400 air defense systems at the end of 2008, a missile defense official said on Monday.
The new systems will protect the air space around Moscow and industrial zones in the center of the country's European part. The S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) air defense system is expected to form the new cornerstone of Russia's theater air and missile defenses up to 2020 or even 2025.
“We are planning to put a second S-400 regiment on combat duty in the Moscow Region by the end of 2008,” said Colonel-General Yuri Solovyov, the head of the Russian Air Force Special Command.
Russia successfully conducted last year live firing tests of the S-400 air defense complex at the Kapustin Yar firing range in south 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 kilometers (250 miles), twice the range of the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot, and 2.5 times that of the S-300PMU-2.
The system is also believed to have high capability to destroy stealth aircraft, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, with an effective range of up to 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) and a speed of up to 4.8 kilometers (3 miles) per second.
Solovyov said that in addition to new surface-to-air missiles already in service, S-400 systems must have anti-ballistic missiles that can be used to destroy targets in near space, which would allow full use of the system's capabilities.
A regular S-400 battalion comprises at least eight launchers with 32 missiles and a mobile command post, according to various sources. The new state arms procurement program until 2015 stipulates the purchase of at least 18 S-400 battalions during this period.
The Russian Air Force Special Command currently provides air defense for 140 strategic sites in 13 regions of central Russia, including administrative, industrial, and transportation facilities, and nuclear power stations.
