ZVENIGOROD, Moscow region. March 17 (Interfax-AVN) - An Aerospace Defense Troops regiment fitted with the newest S-400 "Triumf" surface-to-air missile systems and Pantsir-S antiaircraft artillery weapon systems has entered service in the town of Zvenigorod in Moscow region to provide air defense for Moscow and the Central Industrial District.
The regiment was ordered to enter service by the Aerospace Troops' Air Defense and Missile Defense Commander Maj. Gen. Andrei Dyomin.
"Yet another Aerospace Troops regiment will be re-armed with S-400 'Triumf' surface-to-air missile systems before the end of 2014," Dyomin said at an event on the occasion of the regiment's entry in service.
By the end of 2014, the Aerospace Defense Troops will have four S-400 "Triumf" anti-aircraft missile regiments, he said.
"The first stage of re-arming the Aerospace Defense Troops' antiaircraft missile regiments with S-400 systems will be over. So, by the end of 2014, half of our regiments will be fitted with the newest S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems," the general said.
S-400 "Triumf" systems arrived to the permanent base in the Moscow region from the Kapustin Yar testing range in the Astrakhan region last week, where troops had held live-fire maneuvers, Aerospace Defense Troops spokesman Col. Alexei Zolotukhin said, for his part. More than ten target missiles simulating ballistic, low-altitude and short-range aerial targets across the entire range of altitudes and speeds were hit with high accuracy.
"To ensure protection for S-400 Triumf systems, the anti-aircraft missile regiment in Moscow region received two batteries of new Pantsir-S anti-aircraft artillery weapon systems in January," Zolotukhin said.
The main objective of the Aerospace Defense Troops' anti-aircraft missile regiments is to provide air defense for the city of Moscow and the country's Central Industrial District, to protect the top-priority facilities of the central government and military command, as well as industrial and energy infrastructure assets, the Armed Forces groups and transport communications against the enemy's aerospace attack.
S-400 "Triumf" is a new-generation, medium-to-long range missile system designed and manufactured by Almaz-Antei. It is designed to defeat all modern and prospective means of aerospace attack such as reconnaissance aircraft, strategic and tactical aircraft, short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, hypersonic targets, jammers, airborne radar and other targets. Each system is capable of firing up to 72 missiles simultaneously against 36 targets within a maximum range of 400 kilometers.