The division of the latest 9K331MDT Tor-M2DT short-range self-propelled anti-aircraft missile systems (SAMs) entered the pilot combat duty of a separate motorized rifle brigade of the Northern Fleet, the RF Ministry of Defense website reported. The ceremony was held in the Pechenga district of the Murmansk region.

“The personnel of the air defense division equipped with new systems completed a full training course at the training center and performed the first live firing at a military training ground in the Astrakhan region. In July of this year, the first firing of the Tor-M2DT air defense system took place in the Arctic on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, ”says the website of the Ministry of Defense.

“Tor-M2DT” is an Arctic modification of the “Tor-M2” air defense system, made on the basis of the DT-30 “Vityaz” two-link tracked all-terrain vehicle. The chassis of this machine allows you to overcome the polar regions covered with deep snow. Also, “Vityaz” feels confident in a wooded and swampy area and in the conditions of spring thaw.

The developer of Tor-M2DT is JSC Concern East Kazakhstan Almaz-Antey. According to him, the air defense system is capable of hitting a wide range of air targets within a radius of 15 km in all weather conditions and in difficult jamming conditions. The complex can destroy missiles, air bombs, UAVs, helicopters and low-flying aircraft.

  • Shooting from air defense systems "Tor-2M"

As the Russian Defense Ministry notes in its materials, the Torah anti-aircraft missiles can intercept small-sized, intensively maneuvering targets, which gives the Russian system "a significant advantage over its closest foreign counterparts."

The website of the RF Ministry of Defense clarifies that the Tor-M2 can simultaneously detect more than 40 targets, rank them according to the degree of danger and carry out tracking and simultaneous firing of four targets with four successively launched missiles.

The Tor-M2 and its Arctic version are delivered to the Russian army as part of the current state armament program, designed for the period until 2027. Serial production of air defense systems launched at JSC "Izhevsk Electromechanical Plant" Dome ". The total value of two long-term contracts concluded by the Ministry of Defense with industrialists is 100 billion rubles.

“The implementation of these contracts will strengthen the position of the enterprise and will become an important contribution to equipping the Russian Air Force with new types of weapons,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting of the Military Industrial Commission, which was held in Izhevsk on September 19 this year.

“Remains the most powerful in the world”

In recent years, Russia has steadily strengthened the air defense of the Arctic borders. In September, the Northern Fleet regiment, rearmament on the S-400 Triumph long-range air defense system, took up combat duty. The compound is deployed on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. As noted in the press service of the Northern Fleet, the military has significantly increased the "zone of controlled airspace in the Arctic."

According to Izvestia, citing sources, by the end of the year the Northern Fleet will replenish with another long-range air defense system - S-300V4. It is reported that the system will be in service with the new unit. The peculiarity of this air defense system is the ability to conduct long combat duty in the most extreme climatic conditions.

The S-300V4 has been supplied to the troops since 2014. Its combat capabilities allow simultaneous bombardment of 24 aerodynamic targets, including stealth aircraft, ballistic missiles and a variety of unobtrusive objects. The range of destruction of the complex reaches 400 km.

By the end of this year, the Ministry of Defense plans to complete the construction of an air defense base of the Northern Fleet in the Yakutsk port of Tiksi. According to the deputy head of the military department of the Army General Dmitry Bulgakov, taking into account the harsh conditions, "all 11 objects of this complex will be interconnected by covered walkways."

The RF Ministry of Defense is also investing in the development of aviation infrastructure. Since 2014, the military has been building new airfields and repairing runways abandoned after the collapse of the USSR.

At the beginning of 2019, the military announced the completion of the reconstruction of 19 airfields. It is known that construction work is currently underway on Alexandra Land Island (Franz Josef Land Archipelago) and on Kotelny Island (Novosibirsk Islands Archipelago).

Beyond the Arctic Circle, the Ministry of Defense deployed tactical aviation units as part of the MiG-31 fighter-interceptors. It is also planned to deploy there and Su-34 bombers, as well as transport aircraft. Part of the Arctic infrastructure will be adapted for refueling strategic aviation (Tu-22M3, Tu-95MS and Tu-160).

In a message to the Federal Assembly in 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Russian “Arctic fleet was, remains and will be the most powerful in the world.”

  • Soldiers of the Arctic group of the Russian Federation in the exercises of the Northern Fleet
  • © Ministry of Defense of Russia

In a March interview with the Red Star, the commander of the Northern Fleet (since May - the commander in chief of the Navy), Admiral Nikolai Evmenov, emphasized that "all the forces and forces of the fleet are fully prepared for operations in the harsh conditions of the Far North and the Arctic." According to him, the deployment of additional air defense units is necessary to ensure the safety of the Northern Sea Route (NSR).

The fight for the Arctic

United States officials have repeatedly made statements about the inadmissibility of Moscow’s "dominance" in the Arctic region. For example, in a February interview with Washington Examiner, the commander of the United States Navy in Europe and Africa, Admiral James Foggo, called the Arctic a "international territory" and expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that "the Russians consider the Arctic to be their possession."

Experts interviewed by RT believe that in the current geopolitical conditions, Moscow is forced to pay increased attention to the safety of the Northern Sea Route and the protection of the richest natural resources of the Arctic. In this regard, Russia is strengthening the air defense system and increasing the number of ice class patrol warships.

“A serious struggle is unfolding for the Arctic. Under the talk of “freedom of navigation,” Americans expect to impede the development of the NSR and the development of oil and gas fields. However, today the USA has practically no ice-class ships and it is impossible to compete with Russia in the region, ”military expert Yuri Knutov said in an interview with RT.

  • Northern Fleet Air Defense Launcher Launchers
  • © Ministry of Defense of Russia

The analyst believes that in the struggle for the Arctic, Moscow is quite successful in taking the lead, creating a military-technical backlog to protect the huge polar spaces stretching from the Kola Peninsula to Chukotka.

A similar point of view is shared by the head of the Department of Political Science and Sociology of the Plekhanov Russian Economic University, retired colonel Andrei Koshkin. In a commentary on RT, he said that loud statements by representatives of the leadership of the United States are aimed at destabilizing the situation in the Arctic region.

“Washington is quite annoyed by the lack of resources to control the situation beyond the Arctic Circle. Meanwhile, Russia pursues exclusively peaceful goals by deploying defensive weapons in the Arctic in the form of the latest air defense systems, ”summarized Koshkin.