Russian Military Receives New S-350 Missile System

Russian defence manufacturer Almaz-Antey has delivered a batch of new S-350 surface to air missile systems to the country’s armed forces, with the medium ranged platform set to fulfil a critical role in the Russian air defence network. The S-350 was designed to fill a complementary shorter ranged role to the S-300V4, S-400 and S-500 long ranged platforms, and to defend these more valuable assets from attacks by enemy stealth fighters and standoff missiles. The system deploys three types of surface to air missile, the 9M96E2 with a 120km range, the 9M96E with a 60km range and the 9M100 with a 10km range. The heaviest missile, the 9M96E2, is capable of intercepting targets at low hypersonic speeds little over Mach 5. Each battery carries 12 surface to air missiles, which couple with high mobility and the ability to share date with S-400 and other long ranged systems makes the S-350 particularly lethal. Almaz-Antey issued the following statement regarding the delivery: “During the transmission, the equipment was taken to a training ground, where test flights were conducted, involving real aerial targets escort. Acceptance tests have been passed successfully.” S-350 batteries will reportedly replace remaining S-300PS systems in Russian service - ageing Soviet-era variants of the S-300 with limit ranges.