Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces (VKS) of Russia, Lieutenant General Andrei Yudin, in his article for the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, said that the creation of the S-500 Prometheus anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) will be completed next year.

“It is worth noting that the completion of the S-500 mobile air and missile defense system is planned for 2021,” he stressed.

In March, Vladimir Dolbenkov, General Director of the Design Bureau for Special Machine Building (KBSM) (part of the Almaz-Antey concern, which is the main developer of the air defense missile system), spoke about the completion of tests of individual S-500 systems: a launcher, components of a multifunctional radar and missile defense locator, chassis for the command post and transport units for the early warning radar system.

In May, Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko announced that in 2021 the armed forces can receive the first samples of the S-500, then a state contract will be signed for the purchase of these air defense systems with delivery in 2025.

He noted that the "material part" of the system is undergoing preliminary tests.

Later, in August, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov on the sidelines of the Army 2020 forum announced the start of state tests of the S-500.

“Indeed, it is a fact that state tests have begun, and today a simplified configuration of the S-500 is taking place, and components for serial production are already being purchased,” Borisov said.

"There are no analogues"

The S-500 Prometey anti-aircraft missile system is being developed by the Almaz-Antey Concern VKO Joint Stock Company as a new generation of anti-aircraft missile systems, which will implement the principle of separate solution of tasks for the destruction of ballistic and aerodynamic targets.

The main task of this air defense system is the elimination of medium-range ballistic missiles, and, if necessary, warheads of intercontinental ballistic missiles in the final segment of their flight path.

In addition, the complex is capable of destroying hypersonic aircraft, airplanes and drones.

  • Ballistic missile launch

  • RIA News

  • © Maxim Blinov

The commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces Sergey Surovikin in an interview with Krasnaya Zvezda in the summer of 2020 noted that the S-500 will be able to hit targets in outer space.

“In terms of its tactical and technical characteristics, the S-500 can be attributed to the first generation of anti-space defense systems, since in the future it will be able to destroy low-orbit satellites and space weapons.

The characteristics laid down in the S-500 air defense system make it possible to destroy, in addition to aerodynamic and ballistic targets, hypersonic weapons of all modifications, including in near space.

It is safe to say that there are no analogues of this system, ”the military leader said.

The exact tactical and technical characteristics of the S-500 "Prometheus" are not yet known yet, however, open sources reported that the radius of destruction of the air defense missile system could reach 600 km.

In this case, the system will be able to detect and simultaneously hit up to ten ballistic targets, as well as intercept warheads traveling at hypersonic speed.

The first deputy general designer of the Almaz-Antey concern Sergei Druzin last year revealed some of the features of the new technologies used in the S-500.

So, one of the advantages of the system will be locators built on the basis of active phased antenna arrays, in which there is no transmitting device, and the signal is generated by the antenna itself.

“It has relatively small power amplifiers that are phased in a special way.

Instead of electric vacuum devices with voltages of 30-40 kV, devices with a voltage of no more than 27 V are used. This structurally greatly simplifies the task.

This has a positive effect on reliability as well as on operational safety.

Active phased arrays also allow obtaining more significant characteristics in terms of radiated power and bandwidth of the applied signals.

The performance of the antenna is also significantly higher, ”Druzin said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

According to him, such technologies used in the detection system will allow the C-500 to significantly expand the type of targets.

“The system can also be used to combat ballistic targets of all types.

This required both an increase in the energy potential of radar facilities and the creation of new missiles that can operate outside the atmosphere, where aerodynamic control is impossible, ”Druzin said.

Defense network

Western defense experts point out that, being integrated into the Russian air defense system, the S-500 will create serious problems for aircraft trying to overcome it.

So, back in 2016, the American edition of The National Interest noted that by linking together the S-500, S-400, S-300 and S-350 complexes, Russia will be able to create a single air defense network.

“Some examples of these new systems are so perfect that many American military leaders fear that even stealth aircraft such as the F-22, F-35 and B-2 will face problems in overcoming them,” the newspaper noted.

  • SAM S-500

  • © Concern VKO "Almaz-Antey"

A military expert, retired colonel Viktor Litovkin, agrees with this assessment.

“Air defense systems, which are currently in service with the Russian army, are being integrated into a single information space.

Rather, the S-500 will become a kind of global system that will combine the ability to intercept both air and space targets, and will be able to destroy them, ”Litovkin emphasized in a conversation with RT.

From his point of view, now a "technical revolution" is taking place in the Russian Armed Forces.

“For example, there are Zircon hypersonic systems, Avangard maneuvering nuclear units and many other unique machines.

The same thing happens with air defense systems.

Undoubtedly, the arrival of the S-500 troops will be another military-technical revolution, ”the expert noted.

In an interview with RT, the editor-in-chief of Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, Viktor Murakhovsky, noted that the new radar systems with an active phased array would allow the S-500 to “reliably detect” air, ballistic targets.

“This latest system is capable of intercepting enemy missiles in near space, aerodynamic aerodynamic targets in the atmosphere.

The S-500 system will have to provide cover for entire industrial areas, groupings of troops and other objects and territories of key importance for the Russian Federation, ”the expert emphasized.

According to him, at present it is especially important for the armed forces to have such complexes as the S-500, which are capable of repelling threats from space, as well as work on promising means of attack, including hypersonic missiles.

“Undoubtedly, the S-500 will significantly strengthen the anti-missile and space defense of Russia and will have long-term potential.

It can be expected that after this system goes into service, it will serve for tens of years guarding the airspace of Russia, ”concluded Murakhovsky.