MOSCOW. Dec 20 (Interfax-AVN) - The air defense missile troops of the Russian Air Force have started theoretical and practical mastering of the Triumf promising surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the troops' commander, Lieutenant Ggeneral Alexander Gorkov, has said.
The Tver Air Defense University has launched a training program for servicemen that will operate the Triumf and all its components that will form part of the general system, Gorkov said in an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper published on Thursday. The components include the Pantsyr direct coverage means, as well as radiotechnical, radar and over-the-horizon intelligence means.
"Besides, we have launched training of cadets in the Yaroslavl institute this year, where their program includes studies of the promising system. But if a specialist starts training in Yaroslavl now, he will graduate only in five years. It is too long, as we will have commissioned the new systems by then. That is why training centers of our troops have set up new programs for officers' retraining," Gorkov said.
There is a connection between the commissioning of the new system and forthcoming restructuring of the Moscow air force and air defense district, the general stressed. "The potential capability of control over firing systems that we have here provides for integration of promising systems that can engage all existing types of targets. The next step is development of aerospace offensive and defensive weapons. Moscow's air defense system is famous all over the world, and its main advantage is successfully integrated into this structure," Gorkov said.