S-500 Prometheus to get new missiles

Russia's state-of-the-art S-500 Prometheus anti-aircraft missile system will receive special ammunition designed to destroy enemy ballistic missile warheads, a sources at the Russian Defense Ministry said, the Izvestia newspaper said. 

Successful tests of the ammunition took place at the Sary-Shagan range ground in Kazakhstan. After a series of launches, the new ammo has confirmed the inherent characteristics, and combat crews have successfully completed the mission, having struck a conditional target with a specified degree of accuracy.

According to the source at the ministry, the same ammunition will be used for the modernized stationary missile defense system on guard of Moscow.

According to military expert Dmitry Kornev, it may go about the upgraded 53T6M missile. The specialist believes that in this case a mobile launcher is to be demonstrated soon too. Kornev noted that the 53T6M missile is ten meters long and weighs several tons. There is a more likely option, though, when the S-500 Prometheus receives a missile similar to 53T6M from the point of view of its performance, but less bulky in size.

In May, The National Interest magazine wrote that the Russian S-500 Prometheus would be capable of “killing” USA's fifth generation F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II fighter jets.