One of the most anticipated innovations in the field of Russian weapons and equipment is the promising S-500 anti-aircraft missile system, also known as Triumfator-M and Prometheus. According to known data, while this project is at the stages of design work and has not yet progressed beyond the checks of individual components. Nevertheless, the work continues, and will soon give new results. As it became known not so long ago, the defense industry began assembling certain components of the future anti-aircraft complex.
The long-awaited and most interesting information about the progress of the S-500 project at the end of February was disclosed by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin in an interview with Kommersant. A senior official in charge of the defense industry spoke about the latest work and successes in this area. Among other things, he mentioned the current work in the field of anti-aircraft systems. Without going into details, D. Rogozin announced information about the work in the framework of the last two projects of anti-aircraft systems.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the recently opened and launched Nizhny Novgorod Machine-Building Plant is now engaged in the manufacture of products in the field of air defense. He has already "started the production of final systems such as S-500 and S-400 on an automobile chassis." In addition, the company assembles components of similar systems based on wheeled semi-trailers.
From the latest statements of the Deputy Prime Minister, it can follow that one of the most important projects of recent times has reached the stage of production of experimental equipment. Thus, in the near future, tests of the S-500 will have to start, according to the results of which the complex, after being fine-tuned, will be able to enter service. In the recent past, the leadership of the military department indicated that such systems will begin service in 2020. It turns out that there is not so much time left for the checks and necessary modifications of the "Prometheus".
According to known data, the history of the modern project began in the first years of the last decade. By 2005, the specialists of the Almaz-Antey concern studied the current state of affairs and the possibilities for the further development of anti-aircraft weapons. Soon there was a decision to launch the project, in which the leading role was given to the Almaz-Antey State Design Bureau. It was also planned to involve many other organizations of the defense industry in the work, which should be entrusted with the creation and production of individual components.
According to various sources, by 2010, a technical design for a new air defense system was created. Already by this time, some components of the future complex had been manufactured and tested. To carry out certain checks, the enterprises participating in the program built a set of various models and simulators.
At the same time, in 2010, an index of the new system - 55P6M - appeared in the open press. The modern designations S-500 and Prometheus became known later, only in the spring of 2012. Almost simultaneously with this, plans were announced for the future serial production of new equipment. It was proposed to build two new factories specifically for the assembly of missiles and other means of a promising complex. Some of the components for modern and promising air defense systems were planned to be assembled in Kirov, others in Nizhny Novgorod. According to the original plans, both factories were supposed to start working in 2015.
For a number of reasons, as often happens with the most complex projects, the timing of the implementation of individual stages and the entire project as a whole has been repeatedly shifted. So, as far as we know, the first tests of full-fledged components of the complex were originally planned to be carried out at the end of the last decade, and by 2014-15, Prometheus could have entered service. Subsequently, the plans changed dramatically. For example, already in 2013, the adoption was postponed to 2017-18.
However, these plans did not come true either. For certain reasons, the tests of the missiles of the new complex began only in the summer of 2014, which noticeably shifted the further stages of the project. About a year ago, Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov indicated that now the delivery of a prototype of the S-500 air defense system is scheduled for 2020.
Recent reports from officials may be cause for optimism. After repeated changes to the work schedule, the industry still managed to launch new stages of the program. As D. Rogozin said a few weeks ago, the Nizhny Novgorod Machine-Building Plant has already started assembling some components of the promising complex. Obviously, we are talking about ground-based anti-aircraft systems, such as a self-propelled launcher, control and communication vehicles, etc.
If at present the industry is building such equipment, then there are still no grounds for negative forecasts. The manufacturer and related enterprises are quite capable of completing the necessary work on time and transferring the prototype Prometheus / Triumfator-M for testing by 2020. Thus, after a number of postponements and certain problems of one nature or another, the most important S-500 project will still be brought to the desired final.
Given the time required for testing, one can imagine when the industry will be able to launch a full-scale serial production of new equipment, and the troops will begin to receive the ordered samples. If the experienced S-500 goes to the test site by 2020 and does not face serious problems, then the development of serial equipment will be able to start already in the first half of the twenties. The required number of complexes, for obvious reasons, is still unknown. We can talk about at least several dozen sets.
Officials have repeatedly mentioned some of the details of the future organization of mass production. So, missiles for the S-500 complex are planned to be produced at the Kirov Machine-Building Enterprise, which began work only two years ago. The final assembly of vehicles with ground facilities of the complex will be carried out in Nizhny Novgorod, where in the recent past, new production facilities were also built. Various other enterprises from the VKO Almaz-Antey concern will participate in the role of suppliers of certain components in the Triumfator-M program.
Most of the information about the technical characteristics and appearance of the S-500 complex has not yet been disclosed. Moreover, even the exact appearance of the system and its individual components remains unknown. At the same time, the statements made by individuals, as well as the published documents, allow us to draw up a rough picture and understand what exactly the Russian armed forces will receive in the future.
It follows from the known data that the goal of the S-500 Prometheus project is to create a new anti-aircraft complex, conditionally attributed to the fifth generation, and capable of solving a wide range of combat missions. The complex will have to deal with both aerodynamic and ballistic targets. It should be expected that in the latter case, the air defense system will be able to attack short- or medium-range ballistic missiles. At the same time, he should receive long-range or ultra-long-range anti-aircraft missiles.
According to various estimates, the S-500 air defense system will be able to attack targets at ranges of up to 350-400 km. There are also more daring forecasts, according to which the firing range of some missiles in use will be much higher. At the same time, the complex may not include short- and medium-range missiles, which is why work at such lines will be assigned to other anti-aircraft systems. It is obvious that, being a complex for object air defense, the S-500 will work in conjunction with other systems with different characteristics.
In connection with special tasks, the promising complex should include a high-performance radar detection station. According to various estimates, when operating as an air defense system, the S-500 complex, using a standard detection radar with an active phased antenna array, will be able to find targets at ranges of at least 500-600 km. In the case of work on ballistic targets, the estimated detection range can reach 1500-2000 km. However, the officials have not yet mentioned the real characteristics of the radar complex.
For obvious reasons, the complex will include a separate command post, whose task will be to collect information from its own detection equipment, followed by its processing and issuing commands to launchers. It should be expected that the S-500 air defense systems will be able to provide information about the tactical situation to other users, as well as receive up-to-date data from the outside.
According to known data, from the point of view of mobility, the Prometheus complex will be similar to the existing S-300P and S-400. All means will have to be mounted on special wheeled chassis of high carrying capacity, characterized by high characteristics of mobility on the highway and off-road. According to various sources, vehicles of the BAZ and MZKT brands can be carriers of equipment from the S-500. In the past, at various exhibitions and other similar events, images of special chassis equipped with units from anti-aircraft systems have repeatedly appeared.
It is expected that long-range and ultra-long-range anti-aircraft missiles will differ in the corresponding dimensions, which is why their launcher should be of the appropriate size. In this regard, Bryansk and Minsk vehicles with at least four axles can be used as a carrier of special equipment. So, the Bryansk car builders created the BAZ-69096 chassis with a 10x10 wheel arrangement. The Belarusian enterprise, in turn, has developed a similar machine MZKT-792911 with six drive axles.
The promising anti-aircraft complex S-500 "Prometheus" is a new representative of the domestic direction of long-range systems intended for object air defense. At the same time, during the creation of such a complex, actual threats and possible ways of developing future strike systems were taken into account. All this makes it possible to roughly imagine what role the new complexes will play in the updated air and missile defense system.
Domestic air defense, both in the past and now, has an echeloned architecture and includes complexes with different characteristics that provide multiple coverage of specified areas. The S-500 air defense system, with its improved characteristics, is capable of complementing existing long-range systems in their area of responsibility, as well as expanding the capabilities of air defense by increasing the maximum target destruction radius. The ability to intercept short- and medium-range tactical ballistic missiles significantly increases the potential of the air defense and missile defense system as a whole.
Earlier it was mentioned that the first serial S-500 complexes will be deployed near Moscow. Their task will be to cover the main administrative and military facilities, as well as the entire central industrial region. Apparently, "Prometheus" is planned to be used together with the existing strategic missile defense system of Moscow and, possibly, they will work together with the existing means of detection and control. In the future, the positional areas of the "Prometheus" will have to appear in other regions of the country. With their help, the army will be able to cover the bases of the navy, strategic missile forces, etc., large cities and industrial areas.
The number of S-500 systems planned to be ordered and put into service remains unknown. According to the current plans of the Ministry of Defense, the armed forces should receive and put on duty 56 divisions of the S-400 air defense system by the end of this decade. 46 of these kits have already been handed over to the customer and sent to the units, and the remaining 10 will be built and commissioned in the very near future. Shortly thereafter, the army will receive the first production S-500. What kind of approach to rearmament will be used has not yet been specified. Probably, the new "Prometheus" will first complement the existing S-400. The replacement of the latter should be expected only in the distant future.
Special requirements are imposed on the promising S-500 anti-aircraft missile system, which in a known way affects the complexity of the work. This resulted in several postponements of the start of testing and production. However, all the main problems were overcome, and the industry launched a new stage of the program. As it became known at the end of February, the assembly of the ground-based components of the Prometheus has begun in Nizhny Novgorod.
After many years of research and development work, a new model of weapons for air defense has come close to testing and subsequent adoption. Everything indicates that the current plans for the start of operation in 2020 will be fulfilled. The armed forces will receive the most advanced air defense and missile defense system at the moment, and the country, thanks to this, will increase its defense capability.
