Russian Army To Acquire Hypersonic Weapons, S-500 Missile Systems

Russian army will soon acquire military equipment based on new physical principles, hypersonic weapons and next-generation S-500 missile defence systems.

“A test unit of Russia's next-generation S-500 air defense system would be ready by 2020.” Russian Presidential Aide for Military-Technical Cooperation Vladimir Kozhin was quoted as saying by Sputnik news on Thursday

The S-500 Prometey, also known as 55R6M Triumfator-M, is an anti-aircraft and anti-ballistic missile system currently under development in Russia.

"S-500 systems are on their way, as well as weapons based on new physical principles, hypersonic, and so on. It's not a debate – it is the reality of the present day," Kozhin told Rossiya 24 broadcaster.

The S-500, designed by Almaz Antei, has a range of 600 kilometers.

The system can simultaneously intercept up to ten ballistic and hypersonic missiles traveling at a speed of up to 7 kilometers per second.

The S-500 is a new generation surface-to-air missile system. It is designed for intercepting and destroying intercontinental ballistic missiles as well as hypersonic cruise missiles and aircraft, for air defense against Airborne Early Warning and Control, and for jamming aircraft.

With a planned range of 600 km (370 mi) for Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) and 400 km (250 mi) for the air defense, the S-500 would be able to detect and simultaneously engage up to 10 ballistic supersonic targets flying at a speed of 5 kilometres per second (3.1 mi/s; 18,000 km/h; 11,000 mph)[5][6] to a limit of 7 km/s (4.3 mi/s; 25,000 km/h; 16,000 mph).

It also aims at destroying hypersonic cruise missiles and other aerial targets at speeds of higher than Mach 5 as well as spacecraft. The altitude of a target engaged can be as high as 180–200 km (110–120 mi).

It is effective against ballistic missiles with a launch range of 3,500 km (2,200 mi), the radar reaches a radius of 3,000 km (1,300 km for the EPR 0,1 square meter).