Russia is actively working on the creation of a new short-range anti-aircraft missile system 42S6 "Morpheus". This was stated by Colonel-General Alexander Zelin, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force. "The system is designed to protect military facilities, has both active and passive means of warfare," - explained the commander-in-chief, while noting that "the new complex" Morpheus "will destroy absolutely everything that moves in the airspace within a radius of an adjacent five kilometers ".
The Morpheus anti-aircraft missile system is being developed by the Almaz-Antey Air Defense Concern Design Bureau. The first works began in 2007. It is planned that the new system will enter service with the Russian Air Force by 2015. To this point in time, according to unconfirmed reports, the Almaz-Antey air defense has created the first prototype of a modern anti-aircraft complex, which will be shown at the MAKS-2011 international air show in Zhukovsky. The combat characteristics of the future air defense missile system are still unknown, but the main technical data of the Almaz-Antey air defense system still disclosed.
Control system and guidance:
- the multifunctional radar 29Ya6, developed as part of the ROC "Morpheus", was delivered on the 70N6 combat vehicle and, according to unconfirmed reports, is a ring radar with a HEADLIGHT or AFAR with a hemispherical dome lens. With a high probability, command control is used on the missile defense system according to the operational data of the radar of the complex. An IR station will also be installed on the 70N6 combat vehicle;
- the command post of the air defense missile system - a combat vehicle on the chassis of the BAZ or "Tiger".
The complex can operate both as part of the EU anti-missile defense system and in an autonomous mode. Probably, the zone of fire of the air defense system will not have a "funnel" characteristic of many air defense systems. The fire will be conducted simultaneously on several targets. The reaction time is much faster than the complexes of the Tor-M1 and Tor-M2 class.
Launcher - mobile with radar 29Ya6 on chassis BAZ (4x4) - 70N6. SAM is not used in driving dynamics. Missiles are launched from vertical launch containers. The prototype chassis BAZ-69092-024 was fully operational in May 2010.
The missile used in the complex is presumably the 9M338K, which is mentioned in the Almaz-Antey air defense report for the period of 2008 in the context of the Tor-M2 design and development project. The range of this missile is up to 6 km with a defeat height of up to 3.5 km.
In April 2010, Igor Ashurbeyli, then general director of the Almaz-Antey air defense system, said that the Morpheus air defense system would become part of the expanded aerospace defense together with the Vityaz medium-range complex. In addition, the Vityaz air defense system will be able to detect and fire a larger number of targets. The creation of a new aerospace defense system in Russia began this year. According to the plan presented by the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, the air defense and missile defense systems of the Morpheus, S-400 Triumph, Vityaz and S-500 Triumfator-M air defense systems will be included in the aerospace defense system. General of the Army Nikolai Makarov, Chief of the General Staff, said that the combined system would form an "umbrella" that would reliably cover Russia from possible "attacks from ballistic missiles and cruise missiles of all kinds, including from the lowest possible altitudes, regardless of time and situation."
Russia today is significantly superior to the United States in terms of the technical level of air defense systems and helicopters, but at the same time it loses quite strongly in terms of supply of unmanned aerial vehicles. A similar opinion was expressed during a meeting with journalists by the commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force A. Zelin.
He noted that the domestic air defense systems of the S-300 and S-400 types are many times superior to the main American Patriot system. Also, Russia is actively working on the creation of new complexes S-500, "Vityaz" and "Morpheus".
According to the Air Force Commander, there is comparative parity between Russia and the United States in terms of attack aircraft. However, Russia is inferior in the amount of military equipment in strategic aviation. “However, with the advent of modern missiles, which are already entering service in the armed forces, our potentials are equalized,” summed up the Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief.
