MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/. The Central Military District’s air defense division stationed in the Samara and Saratov regions went on high alert during tactical drills, the District’s press office reported on Tuesday.
"Two regiments armed with S-400 and S-300 air defense systems were put on high alert," the press office said in a statement.
The air defense troops will make a march to new positioning areas, carry out engineer reconnaissance of the terrain and practice procedures within the required time limits for deploying surface-to-air missile systems and assuming combat duty for air defense within their responsibility area, the statement says.
The drills that will end in mid-September involve over 500 personnel and about 100 items of military hardware. At the third stage of the drills, the anti-aircraft gunners will hold a live-fire exercise at a training range in the Astrakhan Region against the targets that will simulate a notional enemy’s air attack weapons, the press office specified.
The S-300 is a long-range surface-to-air missile system designated to defend vital civilian and military installations against any air attack weapons: ballistic and cruise missiles, aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.
The S-400 ‘Triumf’ is the most advanced long-range air defense missile system that went into service in Russia in 2007. It is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range weapons, and can also be used against ground installations. The S-400 can engage targets at a distance of 400 km and at an altitude of up to 30 km.