ROSTOV-ON-DON. May 12 (Interfax) - An S-350 Vityaz air defense missile system has been delivered to the Southern Military District forces, Southern Military District Commander Alexander Dvornikov said in an interview with the Voyenny Vestnik Yuga Rossii newspaper.
"A new air defense missile system, S-350 Vityaz, has been delivered this year. Its technical specifications enable the system to counter both aerodynamic and ballistic targets. An air defense missile regiment of the district is being rearmed with these new weapons," Dvornikov said.
The district press service told Interfax that the S-350 system has been procured by a unit stationed in the Krasnodar Territory.
""Currently, the Southern Military District's air defense missile forces are 90% equipped with new weapons, while the share reaches 76% in the radio-technical forces. S-400 Triumf and Pantsir-S air defense missile systems are the core of our air defense," Dvornikov said.
Back in March, Dvornikov said that S-500 next-generation long-range air defense missile systems and new S-350 systems might be deployed in Crimea and other parts of southern Russia.
The S-350 Vityaz road-mobile multichannel air defense missile system is a product of Almaz-Antey. It is designed to protect government, industrial and military sites and groups of forces from attacks of existent and prospective airborne weapons. The system is capable of destroying airborne targets at distances exceeding 120 kilometers and altitudes exceeding 30 kilometers. It can be deployed from the move within five minutes.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in January that the first air defense missile regiment would be rearmed with S-350 systems in 2021. Previously, an S-350 system was delivered to a training center in the Leningrad region.