According to the head of the Bureau of Military-Political Analysis Alexander Mikhailov, the tactical and technical characteristics make the S-400 the best air defense system existing in the world at the moment
MOSCOW, August 6. /tass/. The states that are among the oil monarchies of the Persian Gulf may become potential buyers of the Russian S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile system. This opinion was expressed by TASS military observer Viktor Litovkin and the head of the Bureau of Military-Political Analysis Alexander Mikhailov.
The first S-400 division went on combat duty 15 years ago - on August 6, 2007 in the city of Elektrostal near Moscow.
According to experts, the reliability of the S-400 has no analogues in the world and in the future will undoubtedly attract the attention of Middle Eastern states that are in the zone of the most frequent military conflicts. "These are states - oil monarchies, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, states with sufficient funds to purchase expensive systems," Mikhailov said. - Each contract amounts to several billion dollars, not every state can purchase them. Of course, these are States that can be threatened militarily by an enemy possessing supersonic military aircraft, cruise missiles, medium- and long-range ballistic missiles, possibly intercontinental ballistic missiles."
"Probably, it would be useful for those states that in the future may become the subject of military interest of their geopolitical opponents to acquire the best long-range system on the market, which has mobility and a very serious reserve in terms of efficiency and accuracy of hitting objects," he stressed.
At the same time, experts believe that many countries may be interested in buying the S-400, but not every state will dare to take such a step. "Some countries are under pressure from the United States, they will never buy Russian military equipment," Litovkin said. - Secondly, in order to maintain and own the S-400, it is necessary to have trained highly qualified personnel. Not every country can boast of such. Guessing and talking about potential buyers of the S-400 is difficult. Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE can get such a complex. Our S-400 has great prospects."
In 2007, the S-400 was adopted by the Russian army. The expert recalled that the system had not yet been used in combat on the territory of Russia. "We had no need to use the S-400 in combat, but the very fact that China, India, even NATO member Turkey are buying our air defense system, and also want to buy Algeria and Egypt, speak of the enormous authority of our complex," the TASS military observer believes. - That it represents the most high-quality, effective, best air defense system on the planet and has been guarding our sky for 15 years. All over the country, from Kamchatka and Chukotka to the Kaliningrad region."
The target detection range of S-400 is up to 600 km. The range of destruction of aerodynamic targets is from 3 to 380 km, depending on the type of missile. "So it's very difficult to get close to the objects. So far, probably, there are no competitors for us here," Mikhailov believes.
In his opinion, the tactical and technical characteristics make the S-400 the best air defense system existing in the world at the moment. "This is also confirmed by the contracting of this system by foreign partners - India, China, Turkey," he said. - The latter, by acquiring the S-400, in fact, drove a wedge into the structure of the [North Atlantic] Alliance, thereby showing that the air defense systems produced by the states that are part of it do not yet reach the capabilities of Russian air defense."
The expert noted that in the years since the creation of the S-400, the Americans have not been able to repeat this success. "This suggests that Russia has gone far ahead in the development of air defense systems here," Mikhailov said. - After all, there are areas where Americans have hopelessly lagged behind the Russian Federation. Although, of course, the development of offensive weapons and the fact that Americans are already testing a hypersonic missile suggests that the decisions of our defense departments, design bureaus and directly the Almaz-Antey manufacturing concern are working ahead of the curve. The creation of air defense-missile defense systems that are capable of intercepting promising Western products suggests that Russia is going the right way, ahead of the enemy in technology."
Experts also spoke about the use of the new S-500 Prometheus air defense system. As previously reported, it is intended to become the basis of the Russian long-range air defense with the ability to defeat all types of hypersonic aircraft, including cruise and ballistic missiles.
"Russia should not switch to the S-500, this system will become an additional echelon of our air defense system," Mikhailov believes. - Russia is now approaching the evolutionary stage when a military threat can arise from outer space. The latest military vehicles that the Americans are introducing now, the X-37 and other developments threaten us with the use of weapons, perhaps even mass destruction, from the descent from orbit. That's what the S-500 was created for." He drew attention to the fact that Russian competitors currently have no similar systems. "So here we are still ahead of our potential opponents," Mikhailov said.
Litovkin also expressed confidence that the S-500 system is designed to complement, not replace, the S-400. "The transition to the S-500 depends on the capacity of the plants, and, secondly, on extreme necessity," the expert noted. "We probably don't need the S-500 throughout the country. But the largest cities, industrial and economic centers of Russia, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg and so on will be protected by this system."
Earlier, TASS reported that on the basis of the S-500 system, a national anti-space defense will be created to destroy objects in near outer space - over 100 km from Earth. Most military satellites that provide troops with communications, navigation and target designation operate at these altitudes.
S-400 "Triumph" (according to the NATO codification - SA-21 Growler) is a long- and medium-range air defense system. Created by the Almaz-Antey concern of East Kazakhstan Region on the basis of the S-300PMU2 complex, it differs from its predecessors in an expanded combat zone and the ability to use new anti-aircraft missiles.
It is capable of detecting and destroying inconspicuous ("stealth") and high-speed air targets. The S-400 is also capable of controlling other anti-aircraft systems (Tor-M1, Pantsir-S1), providing the most effective air defense even in conditions of a mass air raid using electronic warfare.
The target detection range is up to 600 km; the range of destruction of aerodynamic targets is from 3 to 380 km, depending on the type of missile; the speed of the targets being hit is up to 17.3 thousand km / h; the number of simultaneously fired targets is up to 36 (up to 6 in one complex); the number of simultaneously guided missiles is 72.
