Russian S-400 Air Defence Systems to Get Advanced Long-range Missile

Russian units operating the S-400 air defence system will receive the 40N6 advanced long-range surface-to-air missile which was recently has been accepted for service in the Russian Army.

"The 40N6 long-range missile has been accepted for service. All the necessary documents were signed in September, after which the Defense Ministry started the purchases of these missiles," TASS reported today quoting an unnamed source.

The main improvement in the 40N6 over the earlier generation missiles is that its maximum distance of attack is 380 kms for aerodynamic targets while the maximum distance covered by current missiles of the S-400 system is 250 Kms.

The 40N6 has an export version, 40N6E which could be offered for sale internationally. Earlier this month India had signed a US$5.6 billion deal to buy the S-400 system. The type of missile in the system has not been made public.

More than a thousand of 40N6 missiles are planned to be purchased under the state armament program through 2027 to provide newly formed and rearm existing S400 regiments of the Aerospace Force with them," the source told TASS. A total of 56 S-400 battalions were planned to be established in the Aerospace Force under this program.

The 40N6 is a surface-to-air very long-range missile designed to strike early warning and electronic warfare aircraft, airborne command posts, strategic bombers and hypersonic cruise and ballistic missiles.

The missile can travel up to 380 km for aerodynamic targets and up to 15km for ballistic weapons at an altitude ranging from 10 m to 35 km. The average flight speed is 1,190 m/s. Thanks to its new homing head, the missile can destroy aircraft beyond the boundaries of the radio visibility of ground-based radars.

The missile was developed by the Fakel machine-building design bureau and is being serial-produced by the Avangard Moscow Machine-Building Enterprise. The missile was expected to enter service in the early 2010s but its trials lingered on.

The missiles that were previously in service with the S-400 system (9M96, 48N6 and 48N6DM) were capable of striking targets at a distance of up to 250 km.