2019 was filled with events related to Russian anti-aircraft missile systems. Moreover, this applied not only to long-range air defense systems (S-300 and S-400), but also to their lower-level associates. The short-range air defense systems of the "Tor" family occupied the top lines of news feeds almost every month.
So, in 2019, information about the participation of the Tor-M2 air defense system in the counter-terrorist operation in Syria was officially confirmed. It became known that, while providing air defense for Khmeimim, the Kupolsky complex destroyed about a hundred air attack weapons that attacked the base. According to the results of the battles, the Tor-M2 air defense system not only confirmed the declared characteristics in real battles, but was also recognized as the optimal means of dealing with small-sized low-flying targets. As a result, as reported by the media, citing an unnamed source in the main command of the Navy, the 1096th anti-aircraft regiment of the Black Sea Fleet, which provides the air defense of Sevastopol, was decided to re-equip not with medium-range complexes, but with the Tor-M2 air defense system.
In June, at the Army-2019 forum, a model of the Tor family air defense missile system was presented on the body wheeled chassis of the Bryansk Automobile Plant. This was another demonstration of the capabilities of the "Torov" air defense missile system for interfacing with a wide variety of chassis at the customer's choice.
In July, at a training ground on Novaya Zemlya, the air defense forces of the Northern Fleet conducted large-scale exercises using the Arctic version of the Izhevsk-made anti-aircraft missile system. During the exercise, the Arctic air defense system "Tor-M2DT" once again proved that it is capable of providing real protection of administrative and military facilities from modern air attack in this remote Russian region. On November 30, 2019, air defense units of the Northern Fleet, equipped with the Tor-M2DT air defense system, took up combat duty.
In October 2019, a divisional set of the Tor-M2 air defense system, consisting of 12 combat vehicles and control equipment, was shipped to the 726 training center of the Air Defense Forces of the Ground Forces to conduct training and re-equip the 245 anti-aircraft missile division of the 42 motorized rifle division of the Southern Military District.
It should be noted that air defense systems are not only the most important component of ensuring Russia's security, but also an important instrument of geopolitical influence. An example of this is the joint Egyptian-Russian exercise "Arrow of Friendship 2019", which took place from October 26 to November 7 at the training ground of the training tactical center of the Air Defense Forces of the Arab Republic of Egypt. They also involved the Tor-M2E anti-aircraft missile systems in service with the air defense of the Egyptian armed forces.
The manufacturer and developer of the Tor family air defense system is the Izhevsk Electromechanical Plant Kupol (part of the Almaz-Antey VKO concern). This year, the company completed work on the execution of a state contract within the framework of the state armaments program for 2011-2020. All six divisional kits of the Tor-M2U and Tor-M2 air defense systems were delivered to the troops on time or ahead of schedule. The reliability of the enterprise, the high quality of its products became the basis for concluding a new contract within the framework of GPV-2018-2027, which was signed between the enterprise and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on September 19 this year in Izhevsk in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kupol has undertaken to manufacture the Tor-M2 and Tor-M2DT air defense systems by 2027 for a total cost of almost 100 billion rubles. This is the first time such a long-term contract has been signed with the country's military-industrial complex.
SAM family "Tor" are the main, but not the only military products manufactured by "Kupol". The plant is actively expanding its range of defense products. In 2019, the debuts of the latest developments of the IEMZ Kupol - UMTK Adjutant and BM Typhoon-PVO - took place. These products are developed by the enterprise on its own initiative, but in close cooperation with specialists from the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation under the general leadership of the Almaz-Antey VKO concern. The universal target-training complex "Adjutant" is designed to create a complex, as close as possible to a combat target situation during training sessions of anti-aircraft missile and artillery complexes and systems. In 2019, the means of the UMTK "Adjutant" created a target environment during tests of the newest Russian S-300V4 air defense system, during training firing of the Tor-M2DT air defense system on Novaya Zemlya, and during other tests and exercises. Another "Kupolsk" product for defense purposes, the BM "Typhoon-Air Defense" is designed to provide mobility and increase the combat effectiveness of anti-aircraft gunners MANPADS. On prototypes of these machines, Russian anti-aircraft gunners successfully performed during the "Clear Sky" competition of the "International Army Games 2019" held in China.
The company also modernizes previously produced complexes. Among them is the Osa air defense missile system, which was also featured in the 2019 news feeds. In November, a video of the destruction of the Osa-AKM air defense missile system of the Apache attack helicopter appeared on the Internet. This event confirmed that the Wasp remains a formidable adversary for modern air assault weapons. At IEMZ Kupol, a program has been developed to modernize this complex to the level of Osa-AKM1, which makes it possible to significantly increase its combat capabilities.
