How Turkey Rigorously Tested its New S-400 Missile System - Capabilities Exceeded Military’s Expectations

In the final week of November 2019 Turkey’s armed forces began testing the capabilities of the recently delivered S-400 surface to air missile’s advanced sensors, flying F-16 and F-4 fighters and light helicopters to asses the platform’s limitations. Tests were reportedly among the most strenuous an S-400 system has ever faced, and saw aircraft approach the system from different directions and altitudes including at extremely low altitude, flying into ‘dead craters’ where ground based radars would traditionally struggle, and passing over the system at a variety of speeds. Tests continued for over eight hours. Turkish planes also flew around the S-400’s sensors radar in a perfect circle - meaning they had a radial speed close to zero. The S-400 was expected to be unable to track such aircraft, but proved capable of doing so. With testing complete, the S-400 was reported to have demonstrated results which not only met requirements, but exceeded the expectations of the Turkish armed forces and the factory specifications of the weapons system. Turkey is expected to place followup orders for further S-400 battalions, and possibly to acquire complementary systems such as the S-350 missile system and advanced Russian fighter jets such as the Su-35 to provide more effective protection for its airspace.