MOSCOW, February 9 (RIA Novosti) - Four air-defense divisions equipped with Russian-made S-300 batteries will be put on combat duty in March, a senior Russian officer said Monday.
Aytech Bizhev, the deputy commander of the Air Force, said that the divisions would be delivered to neighboring Belarus at the end of March and stationed in the west of the country.
He said it would extend the effective range of the air-defense systems on the western border of the Commonwealth of Independent States by 150 kilometers (about 90 miles) and the detection range of air targets by 400km (250 miles).
Bizhev said S-300PS missile air defense systems were capable of detecting and hitting simultaneously six targets flying in the corridor from 20 meters to 45 kilometers.
"In comparison, the U.S. Patriot system is capable of hitting only four targets simultaneously," Bizhev said.
