MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Russian Navy will receive five K-300P Bastion (NATO reporting name SSC-5) mobile coastal defense missile systems this year, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday.
"Two Bastion systems will be delivered to the Northern and Pacific fleets before the end of the year," Shoigu said at a defense ministry meeting.
According to the minister, the Russian Navy will receive five more systems next year.
"In the future, the fleets will receive four systems annually. As a result, by 2021 we shall be able to completely re-equip our coastal missile units," Shoigu said.
Russia has been using Bastion systems since 2010. The systems are designed to protect vessels from enemy squadrons and convoys.
Earlier in 2015, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia had positioned Bastion mobile coastal defense missile systems in Crimea to demonstrate that the peninsula was well-protected.
