9A84M-1 launcher/loader of S-300V4 system at Victory Parade 2020 in Moscow

The Defence Ministry has completed the formation of the first mobile air defence missile brigade in the Far East. It will soon go on test and combat duty. The brigade of the Eastern Military District deployed in the Jewish region is armed with S-300V4 to provide air and missile defence. The brigade can be rapidly redeployed to any place in the Far East and Siberia. S-300V4 will protect stationary and marching troops against aircraft and ballistic missiles.

The Russian Defence Ministry said the personnel of the brigade were trained in Orenburg. These men were then trained in Kapustin Yar range to fire at Saman targets imitating small high-speed objects. The hardware was then loaded on railway platforms and delivered to the permanent deployment base in the Jewish region.

The Defence Ministry is rearming the air defence to neutralize threats in the Eastern Military District. Besides the brigade creation, two regiments are to receive S-400 by the end of the year and two antiaircraft battalions are to get Buk-M1/M2 air defence systems.

The design of S-300V was completed in the late 1980s. Available S-75, Krug and Buk-M1 could not protect the troops against tactical and ballistic missiles. In contrast to early models of S-300P, the army S-300V has been designed to destroy aircraft and ballistic missiles. Much attention was paid to the missile defence capability. In contrast to S-300 and S-400 of the Aerospace Forces, the army launchers are tracked. Indeed, the Ground Forces demanded mobility and S-300 for them is tracked to provide all-terrain capacity equal to tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. The launchers have to move together with troops and stay close to the frontline to defend key objects against adversary attacks and nuclear weapons.

The launcher can fire two different missiles : one has to destroy tactical ballistic missiles and priority air targets at maximum distance ; the other protects the troops against aviation and short-range ballistic munitions

Progressing element base in rocket construction provided for a deep modernization of the weapon. It got sensitive and precise radar with active phased antenna array. Upgraded missiles expanded the interception range. Modern computers made many combat processes automatic. The supplies of S-300V4 to the first brigade were announced in 2014, the Izvestia said.