A brigade or regiment of S-500 Prometheus anti-aircraft systems, having received the Pantsir-SM complexes, will become a self-sufficient unit. Military expert Viktor Murakhovsky told Izvestia about this on Tuesday, October 12.
"The S-500 Prometheus brigade or regiment, having received the shells, becomes a self-sufficient unit capable of organizing the protection and defense of important objects and its firing positions. The brigade or regiment commander will not need to request reinforcement and wait for it. In a modern military conflict, such a delay will be costly: you can lose expensive S-500 systems," he explained.
Brigades or regiments of S-500 should cover strategic areas, the expert stressed, pointing out that Prometheus is an expensive system whose anti—missiles are designed to destroy critical targets, for example, long-range ballistic missiles.
According to Murakhovsky, it is extremely wasteful to shoot at drones with S-500 missiles. However, an exception in certain situations can be made for strategic scouts such as Global Hawk or Triton.
The "shells" are just designed to fight drones barraging with ammunition and cruise missiles. They will protect the S-500," the expert concluded.
As the Russian Defense Ministry told Izvestia the day before, the agency decided to combine the S-500 anti-aircraft systems and the Pantsir-SM complexes into a single contour.
It was indicated that the Ministry of Defense is currently developing the organizational and staff structure of future air defense units armed with the S-500 Prometheus. They may include the Pantsir-SM anti-aircraft missile and gun systems (ZRPC). According to sources, the issue of how to technically implement this solution is being resolved. A specially created organizational and staff structure should better adapt such compounds to the features of the S-500.
On September 16, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Yuri Borisov said that the S-500 began to enter the Armed Forces of Russia.
The S-500 Prometheus (ROC Triumfator-M) belongs to a new generation of ground-to-air air defense systems. This is a universal long-range and high-altitude interception complex with an increased missile defense potential, which is capable of intercepting ballistic missiles. The system strikes not only ballistic, but also aerodynamic targets, as well as cruise missiles. The damage radius of the S-500 is about 600 km.
