According to a report from the World Wide Web, Russian President Putin revealed on June 9 that the testing of the latest S-500 “Prometheus” air defense missile system is successfully finished. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko also stated previously that the Russian armed forces plan to receive the first S-500 system within this year, and the mass delivery of the system will begin in 2025. At the same time, the Russian military hinted that this most advanced air defense missile would not be sold outside for ten years.
The S-500 “Prometheus” air defense system will be equipped with the latest anti-missile interceptor, capable of destroying enemy ballistic missile warheads. The development of this system will be completed this year, capable of intercepting enemy aircraft and hypersonic weapons. “Prometheus” will not only supplement the anti-missile defense circle in the Moscow region, but also the entire Russian anti-missile defense system. Experts say that its mobility combined with state-of-the-art ammunition will help build an impenetrable shield wherever it is needed in the country.
The latest anti-missile model of the S-500 is now in the final test state. The missile has undergone several live-fire tests at the Surrey-Shagan Proving Ground in Kazakhstan. The interceptor is designed to destroy enemy ballistic missiles. The difference from conventional anti-aircraft ammunition lies in its higher flight speed and more complex guidance system. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced at the National Defense Conference on May 25 that the “Prometheus” system is about to complete the test, and the batch delivery of the S-500 air defense missile system is scheduled to begin in 2025.
At present, major powers are accelerating the development of hypersonic weapon systems, so the S-500 missile, which can intercept ballistic missiles and hypersonic weapons, came into being. The S-500 air defense missile system will be combined with RT-2PM2 ballistic missiles, RS-24 ballistic missiles, RS-26 ballistic missiles, RS-28 ballistic missiles, and A-235 anti-ballistic missile systems to build a Russian land-based offensive and defensive system. In addition, the system may also complement each other with the A-135 Moscow Strategic Missile Defense System to jointly perform ballistic missile defense missions.
The A-135 strategic missile defense system deployed in Moscow has been developed for more than 20 years, and it entered a state of alert in 1995. Silo-based 53T6 anti-missiles are deployed around the capital Moscow, which can shoot down the warheads of intercontinental missiles. As part of the A-135, the ultra-high-power radar station Don-2N can detect intercontinental ballistic missiles launched by the enemy, remove the falsehoods, distinguish the decoy warheads, and provide target indications for the anti-missile system.
At present, the missile defense system of the capital Moscow is undergoing deep modernization and improvement, the radar group for detecting ballistic missiles is also being improved, outdated electronic equipment is replaced, and a more modern anti-missile system 53T6M is also being developed. ,
The S-500 missile’s anti-missile capability mainly relies on three major blocks: the 85Z62 anti-missile command post, the 76T6/77T6 active electrically scanned array radar, and the 77N6-N (short-range)/N-1 (long-range) interceptor; The S-500 system can not only close air defense and intercept ballistic missiles, but also counter low-orbit satellites.
The radar of the S-500 anti-ballistic missile is an X-band active phased array radar, with a long detection range of 750 to 800 kilometers, a missile range of 500 kilometers, and a firing height of 200 kilometers.
In order to be able to destroy a wide range of targets, the S-500 includes several types of missiles, of which the 40R6 missile has been deployed in the S-400 “Triumph” air defense missile system. According to reports, 77H6 missiles with conventional warheads and nuclear warheads will be used to target ballistic missiles at the edge of the atmosphere and near space. The S-500 has the highest speed against intercepting targets, which is as high as 7 kilometers per second. This speed has exceeded Mach 20. This means that the ultra-high sound velocity weapons in service in the future will still not be able to escape the interception of the Russian air defense system.
The mobile deployment S-500 “Prometheus” is designed to destroy missiles and spacecraft in low-Earth orbit, and can destroy targets flying at hypersonic speeds. The S-500 itself can be used to defend Moscow as well as any other theater of operations. The system is very promising. It is wheeled and can be transported by military transport aircraft to transport Prometheus to any location in a short period of time and strengthen the missile defense there. It will also work with S-400 and S-300, both in the unified air defense system, and can work autonomously.
Once the S-500 is successfully deployed, the firepower surges and can intercept a variety of targets, and combines high, medium and low, far, medium and near coverage, multi-level interception, integrated air defense and anti-missile, and has anti-satellite capabilities, effectively maintaining Russia’s national strategy Safety. According to the Russian army, the S-500 missile can hit satellites and the F-22 can be sentenced to death.
So, will Russia sell this system to make tons of money?
Sergey Chemezov, the general manager of Rostec, who was secretly awarded the title of “Hero of Russia” by Russian President Putin, gave the answer. He said: Don’t guess, S-500 missiles will not be sold. . This is not a question of money at all. No amount of money will sell such missiles system. The most advanced military technology of a country will never be sold to the outside world. The reason why Russia has sold the S-400 aggressively before is largely because there is still a more powerful killer, the S-500, waiting behind. It is precisely because it has more powerful weapons that Russia can safely sell its main anti-aircraft weapons in active service.