Moscow. January 1st. INTERFAX - Calculations of the Bastion anti-ship missile system, which are on duty on Matua Island (Kuril Islands), monitor the water area and strait zones around the clock, the Pacific Fleet said on Saturday.
"The calculations of the Bastion coastal missile system of the Pacific Fleet were among the first servicemen in the Far East to celebrate the New Year on duty on an island in the central part of the Kuril Ridge - Matua," the press service of the fleet reported.
The press service said that the calculations of the "Bastion" on a rotational basis are on "round-the-clock duty on the island of Matua to monitor the adjacent water area and the strait zones."
On December 2, the Pacific Fleet announced that Russia had deployed Bastion coastal missile systems on the Kuril island of Matua. The press service of the Pacific Fleet reported that the Bastions and personnel were delivered to Matua by large amphibious ships of the Primorsky Flotilla of heterogeneous forces.
The Bastion complex (NPO Mashinostroeniya, Tactical Missile Armament Corporation) is designed to protect the seashore and defeat surface ships of various classes and types operating as part of amphibious formations, convoys, ship and aircraft carrier strike groups, as well as single ships and ground-based radio-contrast targets in conditions of intense fire and electronic countermeasures. Bastion complexes are deployed in all fleets of the Russian Navy. The flight range of the Onyx Bastion cruise missile is up to 500 km.
The newspaper of the Pacific Fleet "Combat Watch" in the fall of 2016 reported that the new coastal anti-ship missile systems "Bastion" and "Bal" are located on the Kuril islands of Iturup and Kunashir.
The Bal complex is included in the coastal defense forces, designed to protect territorial waters, naval bases, coastal infrastructure facilities and for the anti-amphibious defense of the coast. "Bal" is equipped with an anti-ship missile X-35 (3M24). The range of destruction is 120 km with the X-35E missile, 260 km with the X-35U missile.
Earlier, the Russian military reported on the creation of an airfield on the Kuril island of Matua, which accepts light military transport aircraft. In 2016, it was reported about plans to create a base point for Russian Navy ships on Matua.
On August 9, 2021, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced the expansion of military infrastructure in the Kuril Islands - more than fifty facilities will be built there.
In April, a representative of the Eastern Military District announced that the grouping on the islands would be reinforced with upgraded T-80BVM tanks.
On December 1, 2020, the Russian military reported that the S-300V4 long-range air defense systems were on combat duty on the islands.
In April 2019, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced the introduction of an air defense alert zone on the Kuril island of Kunashir. In August 2018, it was reported that modern multi-purpose Su-35 fighters were deployed at Yasny Airport on Iturup Island.