Russian Bastion Coastal-Missile Defense System To Enter Service In August

The Russian Pacific Fleet’s coastal defense forces have held the first live-firing exercise with the use of the Bastion missile system.

The Bastion coastal defense missile system will assume combat duty in Russia’s Far East in August, fleet spokesman Vladimir Matveyev was quoted as saying by Tass Monday.

"A missile large unit of the Pacific Fleet’s coastal defense forces has used the new Bastion missile system to perform the first launch. The Bastion system arrived for the missile large unit in 2016," Matveyev said.

According to the spokesman, the missile battalion covered a distance of 200 kilometers (124 miles), deployed the military hardware from the move on rough terrain and destroyed a surface target.

As Matveyev said, the live-firing exercise was held at a training range in the Primorye Territory in Russia’s Far East and involved more than 200 servicemen and about 20 items of military hardware. 

More than ten Pacific Fleet ships and vessels isolated the area of the exercise.  "The Bastion coastal defense missile system is planned to assume combat duty in August 2016," the spokesman said. 

The 3K55 Bastion coastal defense missile system is designed to eliminate single surface ships and vessels within assault units, attack groups and convoys at a distance of up to 300 kilometers (186 miles). The system can also hit ground targets.

The Bastion coastal defense missile system is in service with the Russian Armed Forces. The system has been delivered to Syria and Vietnam.

The Bastion coastal defense missile system was deployed on the Crimean coast in 2014.

In September 2014, the Bastion coastal defense missile system was used to destroy a training target at a range of 90 kilometers (56 miles) in the central part of the Black Sea during maneuvers.