Air defense unit armed with S-400 Triumph to hold life-fire drills in Siberia Tass 50908165

Posted On
Defence & Security News - Russia
 
Air defense unit armed with S-400 Triumph to hold life-fire drills in Siberia
An air defense unit armed with S-400 Triumph (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) long-range air defense systems (ADS) will hold the life-fire drills at a range in Buryatia (Eastern Siberia) in September 2016, according to the press department of the Eastern Military District (EMD).
     
Air defense unit armed with S-400 Triumph to hold life-fire drills in Siberia 640 001
     
"An S-400 air defense regiment stationed in the Novosibirsk Oblast has begun the drills. The crews will be redeployed to the Telemba range in Buryatia (Eastern Siberia) to take part in the joint exercise that will involve both air defense and aviation units. The first S-400 live-fire drills in Siberia are scheduled for September 2016," a spokesperson from the District said. He added that the unit would be practicing the air defense of the strategic locations.

The TASS news agency previously reported that the S-400 long-range ADSs had assumed combat duty in the Novosibirsk Oblast on March 1, 2016.

The S-400 long-range ADS developed by the JSC Almaz-Antey has a range of 400 km and an operating altitude of 35 km (using 9M96M surface-to-air missiles (SAM)). An S-400 firing unit can track up to 80 aerial targets simultaneously.

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies` (IISS) Military Balance 2016 report Russia`s Aerospace Forces (Russian acronym: VKS, Vozdushno-Kosmicheskie Sily) had received 168 S-400 launching units by early 2016. As of March 2016, the Air Force (AF) of the VKS deployed 48 S-400, 400 S-300PS/PM (SA-10B Grumble/SA-20 Gargoyle) and 20 S-300V (SA-12 Gladiator/Giant) launching units. The AF operated several S-300PM2 launching units, but the IISS did not specify their quantity. The service also received 80 9K317 Buk-M1 (SA-17 Grizzly) medium-range SAM systems and 12 96K6 Pantsir-S (SA-24 Greyhound) self-propelled anti-aircraft gun-missile (SPAAGM) systems.

The Aerospace Defense Command (ADC) of the VKS deployed 120 S-400 and 120 S-300PM (SA-20 Gargoyle) launching units, as well as 30 96K6 Pantsir-S SPAAGMs. Several Pantsir-S systems of the VKS were upgraded with the new bidirectional radar station.
     
© Copyright 2016 TASS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.