MOSCOW, December 22 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Southern Military District has moved a step closer to adopting the new S-400 Triumf air defense systems, the district’s press service confirmed on Saturday.
Further successful target-shooting trials of the new air defense systems brings the district closer to the point at which the S-400 Triumf systems will be put on combat duty, replacing the S-300 PM systems, the district's press service confirmed on Saturday.
The Southern Military District was created in October 2010. It comprises the republics of Adygea, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Kalmykia, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, Chechnya, and the Krasnodar, Stavropol, Astrakhan, Volgograd and Rostov regions.
The S-400 Triumph long- to medium-range surface-to-air missile system can effectively engage any aerial target, including aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, and cruise and ballistic missiles at a distance of up to 400 kilometers (250 miles) and an altitude of up to 30 kilometers (18.6 miles).
Russia already has four S-400 regiments protecting national airspace around Moscow, in the Far East and in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad.
By 2020, Russia plans to have 28 S-400 regiments, each comprised of two battalions, mainly positioned in maritime and border areas.
