The first S-350 Vityaz medium-range air defense missile system has been added to the Russian aerospace forces' arsenal, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday
GATCHINA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th February, 2020) The first S-350 Vityaz medium-range air defense missile system has been added to the Russian aerospace forces' arsenal, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
In mid-January, the ministry said that Russia's Leningrad Region would be the first to host the Vityaz air defense missile system.
"The first new S-350 Vityaz air defense missile system has been added to the Russian aerospace forces' arsenal. [The system] has recently been deployed at the training center of the anti-aircraft missile forces in Gatchina [a town in the Leningrad Region]," the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added that the anti-aircraft missile forces would be trained on how to use the new Vityaz system.
The Russian aerospace forces are set to receive 12 battalions of the S-350, each including 12 launch pads. Every launcher, in its turn, is equipped with 12 missiles. Thus, almost 150 launchers are to be added to the aerospace forces' arsenal by 2027, the ministry noted.
According to the ministry, the air defense missile system will help make the aerospace forces two times more effective in countering cruise missile strikes and replace the older S-300PS system.
The S-350 was developed by the Almaz-Antey concern and first showcased at the International Military-Technical Forum Army-2019.
