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Russia's Next Gen S-500 Prototype Launch Date Announced

© Sputnik / Grigoriy Sisoev / Go to the mediabankAn S-400 "Triumf" surface-to-air missile system displayed during the international military-technical forum ARMY-2016 at the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Center in the Military Patriotic Park of Culture and Recreation of the Russian Armed Forces, near Moscow
An S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile system displayed during the international military-technical forum ARMY-2016 at the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Center in the Military Patriotic Park of Culture and Recreation of the Russian Armed Forces, near Moscow - Sputnik International
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The test unit of Russia's next-generation S-500 air defense system will be ready by 2020, Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov told Sputnik.

The launchers of the S-400 air defense missile system which entered service at the Russian Aerospace Forces air defense unit in the Moscow Region. (File) - Sputnik International
S-500 to Strengthen Russia's 'Air Defense System of the 21 Century'
The S-500 Prometey, also known as 55R6M Triumfator-M, is a cutting-edge anti-aircraft and anti-ballistic missile system currently under development in Russia.

The S-500, designed by Almaz Antei, is said to have a range of 600 kilometers. The system can simultaneously intercept up to ten ballistic and hypersonic missiles traveling at a speed of up to 7 kilometers per second.

An S-400 air defence missile system deployed for a combat duty at the Hmeymim airbase to provide security of the Russian air group's flights in Syria - Sputnik International
Next-Gen S-500 to Defend Russia Against Hypersonic Weapons and ICBMs
The Prometey is capable of engaging targets at an altitude of up to 200 kilometers, including satellites outfitted with electro-optical surveillance systems.

The S-500 will be a major upgrade to the state-of-the-art S-400 complex that is already in service, and also its US counterpart – the Patriot Advanced Capability-3.

US defense officials are concerned that the S-500 missile defense system is so good that the best stealth warplanes in the Pentagon's arsenal will be unable to do anything about it.

"It is clear the S-500 is intended to serve as a high-altitude antiballistic missile system for home defense, and that its very long range could make it useful for anti-access/area denial and antisatellite tasks. It is also evident that it is designed to be mobile and hard to detect or hack into, so as to resist air-defense suppression strikes," Sébastien Roblin wrote for the National Interest.

The first regiment of the S-500 missile systems that are believed to have no equal in the world will defend Moscow and central Russia.

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