Russia responds to NATO's expansion, creates new S-500 air defense system

Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Russia would form three new divisions before the end of the year to respond to NATO's aggressive expansion. According to Shoigu, Russia intends to counteract to NATO's actions near the borders of Russia.  

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"The Ministry of Defense takes a series of measures to counter the growth of NATO forces in the vicinity of the Russian border. Before the end of the year, two new divisions will be formed in the Western Military District. Another division will be established in the Southern Military District," Shoigu said at a meeting of the department, RT reports. 

According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, actions of the United States aimed at the deployment of infrastructure near Russia's borders force Russia to take adequate retaliatory measures. 

Expert at the Association of Military Political Scientists, Andrei Koshkin, believes that the Russian Defense Minister spoke about the quality of weapons and their geographical location.

"Defense technologies that are used in armed confrontation are seriously upgraded today. The deployment of NATO troops near Russia's borders and the actions that NATO members have been taking there do not solve the problem," the expert told Pravda.Ru.  

According to Andrei Koshkin, it is high-tech weaponry that can stop such aggression and show an adequate response to it.  

"We are capable of deploying the weapons that will effectively resist this offensive.  Russia has shown the world, especially in Syria, that we have modern weapons and military equipment, as well as excellent professionals, who can maintain and use it," Mr. Koshkin added. 

Also read: Will there be war with Russia in 2016?

Noteworthy, the United States sent F-22 Raptor fighters from a base in the UK to the Romanian air base on the Black Sea coast. According to the American side, the aircraft will take part in training flights.

US tanker aircraft KC-135 and two F-22 Raptor flew from the UK to Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase in Romania to take part in military drills. The official purpose of the training flights is to unite USA's eastern NATO allies. The USA deployed F-22 multi-role fighters in Europe in accordance with an initiative to strengthen the security of its NATO allies, US Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said. 

Russia's defense concern Almaz-Antey currently develops new anti-aircraft missile system S-500. In addition, the new S-350 Vityaz system will replace S-300PS arms systems. 

The commander of Russia's Aerospace Forces, Lieutenant General Victor Gumenny, said that the troops would receive the new S-500 anti-aircraft missile systems in the near future, Dave Majumbar wrote in an article for The National Interest. 

The new system will be able to reach targets at altitudes of about 200 kilometers. The new S-500 system will thus be able to strike supersonic aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles of the enemy at a distance of 640 kilometers. The first regiment of the new anti-aircraft missile systems will be deployed to defend Moscow and Central Russia.

Also read: S-400 vs. MEADS

The S-500 will be able to detect and simultaneously strike up to ten warheads of ballistic missiles flying at the speed of seven kilometers per second. In addition, the system is equipped with interceptor missiles with active radar homing head, which makes it similar to the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) developed by Lockheed Martin.

The new system will be equipped with the 91N6A(M) battle management radar, a modified 96L6-TsP acquisition radar, as well as the new 76T6 multimode engagement and 77T6 ABM engagement radars, the article says.

Meanwhile, Russia continues testing the S-350 Vityaz air defense system. "The first launches were successful; the system has proved its performance and will be widely used to replace the S-300PS anti-aircraft missile system," Gumenny said.  

The S-350 uses the missiles with active radar homing head that are used for S-400 systems. The missiles can strike targets at a distance of 120 kilometers, at an altitude of about 30 kilometers. The complex is capable of combatting 16 targets simultaneously, having 32 missiles. 

State-of-the-art anti-aircraft missile complexes build the base of Russia's air shield. The development of such systems started in the USSR, when defense designer Peter Grushin developed the S-200 system in 1965. The system was replaced with S-300 ten years later. A third modification, S-400 Triumf, an anti-aircraft missile system of a new generation, was passed into service in 2007. The system is able to detect and shoot down stealth aircraft, ballistic missiles, etc. Finally, Almaz-Antey defense concern developed the S-500 system in 2012. The new system will be passed into service in 2016.  

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