Russia To Launch Over 300 Missiles During Practice Drills

Russian air defense units in the western military district will use over 300 missile launches from Tor-M1 anti-aircraft and Igla man-portable surface-to-air missile systems during drills at the Kapustin Yar practice range in south Russia.

During the drills, the signal units will for the first time use the Redut-2US telecoms system to establish a digital communications network with the crews of Tor-M1 antiaircraft missile systems, District spokesman Igor Muginov was quoted as saying by Tass Thursday.

"The Western Military District’s air defense forces based in the Voronezh Region have started performing a foot and motor march to the specialized Kapustin Yar practice range in the Astrakhan Region for combat launches from the Tor-M1 antiaircraft missile systems and Igla man-portable SAM complexes," the spokesman said.

As part of the drills, the crews of Tor-M1 and Igla SAM systems will carry out over 300 combat launches to hit Saman jet targets, the spokesman said.

The drills will involve over 1,000 troops and about 300 pieces of armament and combat hardware, the spokesman said.

Missile crews will be assigned the task to change their combat positions and instantly bring missile launchers into the state of combat readiness. A notional enemy will be moving at a distance of about 10 kilometers, imitating an attack on camouflaged field command posts.

During the drills, the signal units will for the first time use the Redut-2US telecoms system to establish a digital communications network with the crews of Tor-M1 antiaircraft missile systems, the spokesman said.