Military observer of Izvestia Anton Lavrov — about why the serial construction of the S-500 complex began on time as never before
The news received on April 25 about the launch of serial production of S-500 air and missile defense systems sounded especially timely because of the current military-political situation around our country. The fact that the serial production of Prometheus has begun, the combat capabilities of which are far ahead of the previously created anti-aircraft systems and complexes, was announced by the general director of the Almaz-Antey concern of East Kazakhstan Region, Yan Novikov. According to him, the S-500 is capable of becoming the basis of the Russian aerospace defense system.
The fact that it is really necessary to strengthen the East Kazakhstan Region system is indicated by several recent events at once. Promises have already been made to seriously increase NATO forces in Europe and their movements closer to the Russian borders have begun. In the near future, our neighbors Finland and Sweden will officially apply to join the bloc. And in addition to promising problems with new members of the North Atlantic Alliance, even more urgent threats have appeared for Russia.
Ukraine, in response to a military special operation, regularly tries to attack objects deep in Russian territory. While the arsenal of the APU is not so great. The maximum they are capable of is strikes with "Dots—U" with a reach of 140 km, drones or suicide helicopter raids. But soon, with direct military assistance from abroad, Kiev will acquire missile systems with a range of hundreds of kilometers. He also has plans to create his own weapons with even greater range. The Kiev authorities are already openly threatening the bridge to Crimea.
More recently, we have seen a "shootout" with ballistic missiles between two post-Soviet states. In the fall of 2020, both Armenia and Azerbaijan used several dozen of these formidable ammunition. Moreover, not only military facilities, but also settlements were constantly hit, many civilians were killed.
It is very difficult to defend against ballistic missile attacks. Only the most modern complexes can do this. Of course, the S-500 was originally designed for this, as were several previous air defense systems. But it has significant advantages.
In the modern world, it is impossible to predict where a new conflict will break out. Now it is no longer possible to put anti-missiles in stationary underground mines and leave them there for decades, as was done around Moscow in the USSR. It is simply impossible to create similar defense areas throughout the country, as well as to urgently build them where they are suddenly needed.
Strategic mobility will be a huge advantage of the new Prometheus system. It was originally designed with the expectation of the possibility of airlift by military transport aircraft. It is clear that the first S-500 brigade will take up full combat duty in the Moscow area. But even if necessary, it will be possible to quickly move it even under Vladivostok, even to Belgorod.
The capabilities of the new S-500 make it possible to create areas with a radius of tens of kilometers, reliably covered from short-range ballistic missile strikes. Such "domes" will be able to cover not only troops, but also cities and strategic infrastructure facilities.
The Ministry of Defense is still stingy about the details of the tactical and technical characteristics of the newest complex. But it is known that he will be a generalist, able to fight with a variety of goals. Prometheus will be equipped with several types of missiles for different tasks. The ammunition will include both ammunition designed to intercept aerial targets such as airplanes, and beyond the atmosphere. They will be able to hit ballistic and hypersonic missiles, as well as satellites in low orbits.
According to foreign media reports with reference to the Pentagon, during one of the tests, the S-500 missile successfully hit an air target 500 km from the launcher, which until now was impossible for any other complex. But it is not limited to these record figures.
The characteristics of missiles and kilometers of their range are often ignored by the rest of the components of a complex complex. But it was a unique challenge for science and industry to create mobile radars capable of detecting and aiming missiles even at inconspicuous objects at such great distances. Special radars were also needed in order not to lose sight of the latest and promising threats — hypersonic munitions and missiles with a quasi-ballistic trajectory, in order to see satellites and accurately determine their movement characteristics.
A completely new military-political situation in the world makes it extremely important to establish production and supplies to the S-500 troops as quickly as possible. Sanctions could become an additional challenge for this task, but Almaz-Antey has been under them for several years. They were introduced against the company long before the start of the special operation in Ukraine. It seems that the corporation has managed to adapt to them.
The media reported that last year the Russian Defense Ministry signed a contract with the Almaz-Antey concern on the serial production of more than a dozen such systems. The company created new production facilities specifically for them. Already in the autumn of last year, the first S-500s were transferred to the troops for experimental duty, and this year serial samples are expected.
Anton Lavrov — military observer of Izvestia
The editorial board's position may not coincide with the author's opinion
