MOSCOW, December 9. /TASS/. The Northern Fleet will arm all its Arctic battalions with S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems in coming years to create an air defense dome over the Russian Arctic, Fleet Commander Vice-Admiral Alexander Moiseyev said in an interview with the Defense Ministry’s Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper on Monday.

"This year, S-400 systems will enter service with the air defense missile regiment stationed on Novaya Zemlya. There are plans to arm all our Arctic battalions with these systems in coming years and thus create an air defense dome over the Russian Arctic," the Fleet commander said.

Also, units of a new air defense formation have gone on experimental combat duty in Tiksi to provide security of the airspace over the Northern Sea Route, he added.

"In the future, we are planning to build up the air defense capabilities of Russia’s northern frontiers," the vice-admiral stressed.

Thus, the Russian polar regions will be protected against enemy air attacks, "be it aviation, cruise or ballistic missiles," the Northern Fleet commander explained.

Russia also continues building ramified military infrastructure on the Arctic islands, in particular, hi-tech lighting systems to monitor the situation in the air, on the ground and under the water, he said.

Russia’s S-400 ‘Triumf’ (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) is the latest long- and medium-range surface-to-air missile system that went into service in 2007. It is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, and can also be used against ground installations. The S-400 can engage targets at a distance of up to 400 km and at an altitude of up to 30 km under intensive enemy fire and jamming.