YEKATERINBURG, November 8. /TASS/. The combat teams of a battalion of S-300 air defense systems thwarted a notional enemy air strike against the Russian 201st military base, destroying a cruise missile during drills in Tajikistan, the press office of Russia’s Central Military District reported on Monday.
"The teams of S-300 air defense systems went on high alert to eliminate an air target that simulated a cruise missile. The anti-aircraft gunners searched for, detected and locked on the target and also struck it with electronic launches of surface-to-air missiles. As a result of the exercise, the S-300 combat crews eliminated the target at a safe distance," the press office said in a statement.
In the course of the drills that engaged about 200 personnel, the combat teams also practiced timed operations for reloading S-300 systems and equipping combat positions. The security and defense units of the 201st military base repelled an attack by notional subversive and reconnaissance groups on the areas of their stationing, the statement says.
The 201st military base stationed in Tajikistan is Russia’s largest military facility outside its borders. The military base is stationed in the cities of Dushanbe and Bokhtar.
The military base comprises motor rifle, armored, artillery and reconnaissance units, air defense forces, radiation, chemical and biological protection and signal troops.
Under an agreement signed in October 2012, Russia’s military base in Tajikistan will remain until 2042.