Russian MoD Orders Ten S-500 Missile Systems

Russian Ministry of Defense placed an order with Almaz-Antey for ten S-500 missile systems.

"Russian defense ministry signed a contract with VKO Almaz-Antey on shipment of over 10 Prometey systems to the Aerospace forces. Serial shipments will begin in the first half of 2022," a source in the military-industrial complex was quoted as saying by government-owned TASS Thursday.

State trials of the S-500 are currently underway in southern Russia. The trials are expected to wrap up in late 2021, the source added.

Read: Should the West be afraid of the Russian S-500 Air Defense System?

Earlier, Commander of Missile Defence Troops of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Maj. Gen. Sergei Babakov, said in an interview with the Russian Defense Ministry-owned Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, said "Currently, a number of tests have been carried out with combat launches of anti-aircraft guided missiles at air targets. All tests have been completed with a positive result.”

S-500 Naval Variant

The current variant of the system is ground-based. "If necessary, it can become a naval one," the source said.

The naval version of the S-500 could follow the same pattern of development as the S-300 and S-400, both of which have analogs in service with the Russian Navy. This variant has been connected with the planned Lider (Project 23560) class of destroyers.