Russia tests of the newest anti-aircraft missile system S-500 have been completed, its deliveries to the troops have begun, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov.
Yuri Borisov stressed that in order to start exporting systems, the permission of President Putin and the availability of relevant applications from foreign partners will be required.
Missile systems supplied to other states will differ from those used by the Russian army. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, this is a common practice – the characteristics of exported weapons “should not exceed domestic ones.”
While answering a question from journalists about the first potential buyer of S-500 systems, Borisov stated that “India is the largest exporter of Russian arms. And we sometimes sell to India what we do not sell to other countries because we have no political or territorial claims among ourselves or conflict situations.”
Borisov recalled that India has established licensed production of Russian T-90 tanks and Su-30MKI aircraft.
Russia started testing the S-500 last year. Then the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Alexei Krivoruchko said that the military expects to receive the first air defense systems in 2021, and serial delivery will begin in another four years.
The S-500 Prometheus is a new generation of long-range surface-to-air anti-aircraft missile systems and a high-altitude interception. The complexes are capable of intercepting not only ballistic missiles but also cruise missiles, as well as other air targets.
The S-500 complex is capable of simultaneously detecting and destroying up to ten supersonic targets moving at speeds up to seven kilometers per hour. The radius of destruction of the missile system is about 600 kilometers.
Earlier, radio Sputnik reported on the supply of what weapons Russia and Belarus had agreed on.