S-500 missile system will be completed on time, surpass foreign analogs - ministry
MOSCOW. Sept 5 (Interfax-AVN) - The new S-500 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system being built for the Russian Aerospace Defense will surpass U.S. analogs by tactical and technical characteristics, Aerospace Defense Troops Commander Col. Gen. Oleg Ostapenko told Interfax-AVN.
"Work on the S-500 SAM system is going to be scheduled. The work is part of the state armament program and will be completed before 2020," Ostapenko said.
The S-500 will be better than any U.S. analog, he said.
"Our newest S-500 system with a new missile is better than any other U.S. analog. While Americans are still seeking publicity in electronic mass media, we already have an actual missile," the general said.
Fifth-generation missiles, including S-500 SAM systems, will be the basis of Russia's Aerospace Defense in the 2020s, he said.
The work on the S-500 SAM system is going concurrently with efforts to create a new missile for this new system, Ostapenko said.
The commander would not give the technical characteristics of the missile for the S-500.
"Our work on the missile is going to plan, there are some great ideas but not without elements of superstition. We do not normally talk about it before it (the missile) flies," the general said.
It was reported earlier that about ten divisions of S-500 SAM systems are due to be purchased under the state armament program to 2020. They will become the main weapon of the newly formed Russian Aerospace Defense Forces.
The S-500 SAM system designed by Almaz-Antei is a long-range, high-altitude interception system with an enhanced missile defense potential.
The main requirements for the S-500 SAM system are: an increased capability to destroy ballistic targets (medium-range ballistic missiles, tactical and operational-tactical ballistic missiles) at an interception altitude of up to 200 kilometers and flight speed of up to 7 kilometers per second, and a capability to destroy warheads of hypersonic cruise missiles, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
