YEKATERINBURG, March 15. /TASS/. The personnel of an anti-aircraft missile regiment of Russia’s Central Military District will conduct the first missile launches after they were rearmed with the latest S-400 air defense systems during drills at the Ashuluk practice range in the Astrakhan Region, the District’s press office reported on Monday.

"The combat teams of S-400 ‘Triumf’ surface-to-air missile systems will repel a massive air strike as part of the drills and practice detecting, tracking and eliminating Armavir, Pishchal and Kaban high-speed super-maneuverable ballistic target missiles that simulate present-day and future air attack weapons," the press office said in a statement.

Before their combat employment, the personnel of the Central Military District’s anti-aircraft missile regiment practiced procedures within the required time limits for deploying the S-400 systems, then conducted a combined march about 2,000 km long and assumed combat duty in a new positioning area, the statement says.

The drills with a live-fire exercise will last until mid-April and will be the first for the personnel of the Central Military District’s anti-aircraft missile regiment after it was rearmed with the S-400 systems. The drills involve over 300 personnel and about 100 items of military and special hardware, the press office specified.

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.