How the S-550 missile defense system differs from the S-500 "Prometheus", by Rostislav Zubkov and Artur Priymak for VZGLYAD, 16/11/2021.
A week after Shoigu announced the existence of the S-550, the first official data on this anti-aircraft missile system appeared. It is assumed that the Russian army will receive a novelty in four years. What are the advantages of the S-550 air defense system and which foreign countries can get it in the first place?
Complexes S-550 will have a large target detection range and missile range, said on Monday the head of the state corporation "Rostec" Sergei Chemezov, speaking at the international air show Dubai Airshow 2021. "This is a work that never stops and will continue to increase both the detection range and the missile range with the ability to intercept any targets, ”he said.
A source close to the military department added in an interview with TASS that the first batch of S-550 will be delivered to our army by 2025. According to him, the S-550 has already been created in "hardware" - we are talking about a strategic missile defense system. The interlocutor emphasized that a mobile launcher with a hypersonic missile will be used, while the naval version of the complex is not envisaged.
The new S-550 anti-aircraft missile system (SAM), developed on the basis of the S-500 Prometheus, will become the world's first mobile specialized anti-missile and anti-space defense system capable of effectively destroying intercontinental ballistic missiles, two sources in the Defense Ministry told RIA Novosti on Saturday. industrial complex.
Currently, Russia and the United States have specialized missile defense systems capable of shooting down warheads of ICBMs with a high probability, but of a stationary type - anti-missiles are placed in mines.
“The new mobile system is being developed as a version of the S-500 air defense system and will specialize in anti-missile and anti-space defense tasks. Its capabilities to intercept warheads of ballistic missiles of various ranges, primarily intercontinental ones, as well as space attack weapons will be an order of magnitude higher than that of the S-400 and S-500, as well as the American missile defense systems - THAAD and Aegis with SM-3Block llB missiles ", - said one of the interlocutors of the agency. Another source confirmed this information, adding that "the development of a new system is at an advanced stage."
For the first time the existence of a C-550 last week, said Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the head, but no information about it has not resulted Minister. Probably, it will be a modification of the S-500, military expert Pavel Felgenhauer told the VZGLYAD newspaper. In his opinion, the main components of the S-500 and S-550 systems will be identical, the difference is likely to be in specialization.
“The S-500 was created against both aerodynamic and ballistic targets. The S-550 is a purely anti-missile variant that can shoot down satellites in low orbit at the same time. True, this is not a great achievement: the Americans and the Chinese can already do this, ”the source said.
“The S-550 will definitely have a different missile and, I suppose, separate batteries against different targets - aerodynamic and anti-missile. Perhaps the new complex will even be able to carry out a direct intercept - when, for example, an enemy warhead is hit by an interceptor warhead. So far, no one has done this in our country: the topic was closed in the 70s, considering direct interception impossible, ”he explained.
Felgenhauer doubts that the S-550 will become "the world's first mobile specialized missile defense and anti-missile defense system" capable of effectively destroying ICBMs, according to RIA Novosti sources . As the specialist recalled, Israel already has such a technology - the Hetz-3 anti-missile system. “These are serious mobile batteries, they are already deployed, they can move and are not in mines. One battery is located north of Tel Aviv, the second to the south. But I don't know if this system will be able to shoot down a conventional satellite. Israel simply does not have such a task, ”the expert added.
As for the timing, the S-550 may well appear in service with Russia until 2025, Felgenhauer agreed with the opinion of a TASS source . At the same time, the expert admitted that in the future, the development may be of interest to China - one of the importers of the S-400 systems and a potential buyer of the S-500. As for other clients - India, Turkey and Iran - it is still difficult to say anything unambiguous, the interlocutor admits.
“It is clear that for export we will supply a deteriorated version of the complex. If the development comes from the "cash" of the Ministry of Defense, various components are removed from it. It is clear that weapons abroad may fall into the hands of a potential enemy. The most secret cannot be sold, the General Staff simply will not allow this, ”he concluded.
Military expert Alexei Leonkov also suggests that China may be among the buyers of the S-550 - a country that wants to buy the S-500 from Russia. With the participation of Russian specialists, the People's Liberation Army of China is modernizing its warning system of a possible missile attack, he added. “This system in China has not changed for several decades. But since then, the situation in the world has seriously changed. Chinese territory is already being considered as a target for ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads, Beijing understands this well, ”Leonkov explained.
The interlocutor recalled that a deeply echeloned defense of the coastal zone, where the most densely populated provinces are located, have already been created in the Celestial Empire. “For the Chinese air defense, our S-400s have already become a real gift. The range of the S-400 missile is 250 kilometers. The Chinese, for example, already shot down a maneuvering air target that was moving at very high speeds with this missile. The appearance of the S-550 - a complex that can hit even further - would make China's air defense even more effective. Moreover, the S-550 can operate in near space, which is just manna from heaven for Beijing, ”the expert noted.
True, the expert is not sure that in Russia itself the S-550 will appear on alert by 2025. “This is still a question. True, if earlier it took about a decade to create one missile system, now this period is much shorter. Now Russian missiles are designed and manufactured much faster. At the Almaz-Antey concern, the design of missile systems has long been automated, which makes it possible to quickly take the next step on the current project. The same S-350 appeared at Almaz-Antey rather quickly - due to the fact that the concern and all its enterprises were re-equipped, ”the expert recalled.
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