MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/. The helicopter protection system Vitebsk will be upgraded by next year on the basis of its performance in Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

"The Defense Ministry has made a decision to further upgrade the army aviation’s protection system Vitebsk. The counter-terrorist campaign in Syria has allowed for accumulating the necessary experience of using this onboard protection system in real action. A decision has been made in favor of a profound upgrade of the Vitebsk system to make it capable of protecting helicopters from any current or future anti-aircraft systems of foreign manufacture," the Defense Ministry said.

Research and development will be completed by 2018. The upgraded system will begin to be installed on army helicopters after government certification tests.

"The Vitebsk system has vast room for improvement. It will be upgraded, its range of frequencies expanded and range enhanced to guarantee better protection for all aircraft from guided missiles and shoulder-launched rockets," he said.

The digitalized individual protection system Vitebsk creates optical and radio-electronic jamming. Its first consignments were delivered in 2015.