For obvious reasons, there is still very little data on the S-500 anti-aircraft missile system being developed. This is quite understandable, because the development is still underway and the bulk of the details are secret, and part of the design work has not yet been completed. Nevertheless, some aspects of the project are already known, which allows us to make our own assumptions and conclusions. Let's try to collect all the information about the S-500 that appeared in open sources.
The first mentions of the creation of a new 5th generation anti-aircraft missile system date back to 2002 and 2003. Then it became known that NPO Almaz had carried out a preliminary assessment of the required parameters of a promising air defense system. Naturally, at that time the details did not get into the public domain, which, however, did not prevent experts from starting to build their assumptions on the topic. Active work on the project of the future S-500 complex began in 2003. Then at "Almaz" they began to work out the appearance of a promising air defense system "cleanly". About a year later, the engineers of the same research and production association began the preliminary design of a new complex.
Somewhere at the same time, two sets of research projects with the codes "Lord" and "Autocrat" were started. The first stage of this work was completed in 2005. The next year 2006 was spent on other studies, tests, etc., the details of which, for obvious reasons, are still secret. But some of the administrative decisions this year have become public knowledge. So, it was in 2006 that the proposal of the Military-Industrial Commission under the Government of Russia to give NPO Almaz the status of the lead developer of a promising air defense system appeared. At the end of February 2007, this proposal was enshrined in the corresponding resolution of the military-industrial complex.
Already in a new status, both subsequent years NPO Almaz, renamed in 2008 into GSKB of the Almaz-Antey concern, continued all the necessary research on the subject of Vlastin-TP. By the end of 2008, the first reports began to appear in the press, now about the development of the S-500 complex, and at the beginning of 2009 this was officially announced. At the same time, the C-500 index also received official confirmation. It is noteworthy that 2009 was very rich in news about a promising anti-aircraft missile system. So, in the middle of this year, information appeared that the 40N6 anti-aircraft missile, created for the S-500, was already ready for testing. In addition, according to unverified information, tests began in the same year, but this was not officially confirmed or denied.
The 77P6 launcher on the BAZ-69096 chassis from the S-500 air defense system (processed drawing from a poster showing armored vehicles in Bronnitsy, 2011-10-06, reproduction - Muxel,
From then until now, most of the news was not about the technical details of the S-500 complex, but about plans for production and the like. In particular, in 2011, it was repeatedly said that in the very near future the construction of two plants at which the Almaz-Antey concern will build new air defense systems will begin. The completion of the construction of the plants is scheduled for 2015, from which it is possible to draw appropriate conclusions about the timing of the deployment of large-scale production of the S-500 complexes. Nevertheless, the production facilities of the Almaz-Antey concern allow starting the production of new air defense systems earlier. At the same time, at the moment, the existing enterprises are so busy with the production of S-400 complexes that they are unlikely to have time to produce anything other than prototypes of the S-500 before the launch of new plants. Therefore, the following course of events looks most likely: before the construction of new plants is completed, Almaz-Antey produces an experimental batch of S-500 anti-aircraft missile systems and conducts their tests. Tests and fine-tuning continue until 2015, when the plants will be put into operation, after which the production of new complexes will be established at them.
In light of the construction of new plants and today's plans to start serial production, the plans put forward earlier look quite interesting. So, at the very beginning of work on the S-500, the beginning of tests was often referred to as 2010. As practice has shown, these estimates were slightly incorrect. In reality, in 2010, layouts of all systems were prepared and the bulk of the design work was completed. Nevertheless, in January 2011, the Commander-in-Chief of the Space Forces, General O. Ostapenko, announced the start of testing some elements of a promising system and the start of production of prototypes. Thus, if all test work goes through without any problems, then the S-500 complex will be ready by about 2014-15. When ready it will be put into service.
As for plans for mass production, it is known from open sources about a plan for 10 divisions, which will be produced until 2020. Probably, after this period, production will continue and the new S-500 will serve alongside the S-400 for some time. A small comment on the S-400: a number of sources mention that the first batches of S-500 complexes can be manufactured with extensive use of the material and developments of the S-400 complex. It is not known how true this is, but there are certain reasons to believe that with the current production capabilities, the Almaz-Antey concern is unlikely to be able to produce full-fledged S-500s simultaneously with the already ordered S-400s. Nevertheless, wait and see.
Some means of the S-500 Anti-Aircraft Missile System - from top to bottom: launcher 77P6, radar 96L6-1, radar 77T6, radar 76T6, command post 55K6MA or 85Zh6-2 (processed by MilitaryRussia. Ru drawing from a poster showing armored vehicles in Bronnitsy, 2011-10-06, reproduction - Muxel, https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/mx118, It remains to tell about the available information on the composition and capabilities of the promising complex. From the statements of the country's military leadership, it follows that the S-500, continuing the trend started by the S-400 complex, will be called upon to fight both aerodynamic and ballistic targets. For this, the complex, among other things, will need to have a decent radar station for detecting and tracking targets. So, the analysts of the Military Russia portal tipped for this "post" radar "MARS" (Multifunctional Adaptive Radar Station). This station is capable of detecting both aerodynamic and ballistic targets and is suitable for use as part of anti-aircraft missile systems. With a maximum possible range of 3000 km, the MARS radar with a probability of the order of 0.9-0.95 is capable of detecting a ballistic missile at ranges of at least 2000 kilometers, and its warhead (effective scattering surface of about 0.1 sq. M.) At a distance of 1300-1400 km. For aerodynamic targets, depending on their RCS, the detection ranges are approximately the same, although in some cases they can be much larger, up to the above three thousand kilometers.
It is expected that the composition of the S-500 complex will approximately correspond to the composition of its predecessors: vehicles with launchers, three or four vehicles with radars of various types and for various purposes, a control vehicle, a transport-loading vehicle, etc. It is expected that all vehicles of the complex will be made on the basis of special multi-wheeled chassis manufactured by the Bryansk Automobile Plant. The most likely to be used in the S-500 are the chassis of the BAZ-69096 (10x10), BAZ-6909-022 (8x8) and BAZ-69092-012 (6x6) models. All of these chassis have a similar appearance and somewhat similar layout. In addition, they are all united by the fact that the two front axles are steerable. The carrying capacity of the listed chassis ranges from 14 tons (BAZ-69092-012) to 33 tons (BAZ-69096). The Bryansk chassis have already proven themselves as a good basis for vehicles for various purposes. For example, the S-400 complexes are mounted on the basis of machines with the BAZ index.
A prototype of the BAZ-69096 chassis at a demonstration of equipment in Bronnitsy, 2011-10-06 (photo - Muxel, https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/mx118, The composition of missile weapons, namely their specific types and characteristics, are still unknown. Therefore, in some sources and analytical articles there is an opinion about the possible absence of short and medium-range missiles in the S-500 complex. Nevertheless, the absence of any information on such ammunition may indicate that the customer and the developer decided not to create them specifically for the S-500, but to borrow from the S-400 air defense system already supplied to the series. For the rest of the missiles for the S-500, there is no open information yet. There are only assumptions of varying degrees of reliability. Hopefully, the design and test work will soon get to the point where you can share information about the missiles with the public.
At the moment, the most recent news about the development of the S-500 anti-aircraft missile system is the message about its presumptive name. So, some time ago there were reports that the S-500 will be called "Prometheus". It is noteworthy that earlier as a verbal name for the S-500 were proposed "Triumphant-M", "Autocrat" and "Lord". It is easy to see that the last two options go back to the name of the research work that preceded the actual development of the complex itself. Also recently it became known about the timing of the completion of design work on the S-500. It is expected that they will end this year, and full tests of the prototype of the S-500 air defense system will begin in the first half of 2013 or a little later.
