Russia has for the first time
demonstrated the short-to-mid-range air defense platform ‘Vityaz,’
which will replace older variants of the S-300 system due to be
scrapped soon. The army will begin testing the new hardware later
this year.
The new surface-to-air missile system
is made by Russian weapons manufacturer Almaz-Antey. The company
demonstrated the system at the Obukhov State Plant in St. Petersburg,
home to its branch that manufactures the Vityaz launchers.
The system boasts advanced all-aspect
phased array radar, a new mobile command post and a launcher carrying
12 vertical-launch missiles, which will use a variant of the 9M96
active radar homing missile. Similar missiles are used by the S-400,
the newer generation of the S-300, which is currently being deployed
in Russia.
