MOSCOW. Sept 10 (Interfax) - The crews of S-400 and Pantsir-S air defense missile systems deterred a massive airstrike from a mock enemy in the Nizhny Novgorod region of Russia in the course of the Zapad 2021 Russian-Belarusian strategic exercise, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
"Once the airborne targets of the mock enemy were detected by the intelligence and classification systems of radio-technical units and the information received was processed and analyzed, the crews of S-400 and Pantsir-S systems received precise coordinates, locked onto the targets, and 'destroyed' the airborne targets in simulated missile launches," the statement said.
Over 50 targets were detected, despite jamming in the entire range of altitudes and speeds within the area of exercises training the protection of positions and the deterrence of airstrikes from a mock enemy, it said.
The Zapad 2021 exercise will be held at ranges in Russia and Belarus and in the southern part of the Baltic Sea until September 15.
About 200,000 troops are taking part in the maneuvers. Nearly 2,500 Russian troops have been deployed to Belarus for training. Zapad 2021 also involves foreign military contingents, that is, about 500 servicemen from Armenia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, the Western Military District said in a statement.