MOSCOW, August 21. /TASS/. A battalion of Arctic Tor-M2DT surface-to-air missiles systems making part of the Northern Fleet’s motor rifle brigade has assumed its first experimental combat duty in the Murmansk Region, the Fleet’s press office reported on Wednesday.

"The unit has been deployed at a practice range of land and coastal defense troops in the Pechenga district of the Murmansk Region. The personnel are practicing measures to provide for airspace control and point air defense," the press office said in a statement.

The Arctic Tor-M2DT systems arrived for the Northern Fleet last year, the press office said.

"The personnel of the air defense battalion has undergone a full course of training at the training center and accomplished the first live-fire exercise at a military range in the Astrakhan Region," the statement says.

In July this year, the battalion of Tor-M2DT systems held its first firings on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic.

The Tor-M2DT surface-to-air missile system has been developed using the Vityaz two-section tracked prime mover for its employment in the Arctic and the Extreme North and is capable of operating at a temperature of minus 50 degrees Celsius. The new system comprises 16 surface-to-air vertically launched missiles with a striking range of up to 12 km and an altitude range of up to 10,000 meters. The upgraded target detection station is capable of spotting aircraft based on stealth technology.

The Tor-M2DT is designated to defend vital administrative, industrial and military facilities and also land troops against air attacks in the Arctic and the Extreme North. The system controls the airspace against strikes by cruise missiles, air bombs, aircraft, helicopters and large unmanned aerial vehicles.