Article Posted on : - Apr 03, 2010

Russian long range S-300 surface-to-air missile systems.

MOSCOW (BNS): China has received fifteen batteries of S-300 surface-to-air missile systems from Russia, a media report said.

“It had thus completed the contract with China but gave no indication of how much it was worth or specifically how many S-300s had been delivered, “RIA Novosti quoted Gor Ashurbeili, general director of the Almaz-Antei concern as saying.

An S-300 battery is typically comprised of four truck-mounted installations, each consisting of four missiles.

"First we have to arm the Russian military. If there are available production capacities and we fulfill our current contracts, then this process [the signing of new contracts] will resume," he said.

The advanced version of the S-300 missile system, called S-300PMU1 (SA-20 Gargoyle), has a range of over 150 kilometers (over 100 miles) and can intercept ballistic missiles and aircraft at low and high altitudes, making the system an effective tool for warding off possible airstrikes.

The S-300 missile system is known as the most potent anti-aircraft missile systems currently fielded. It was first deployed by the Soviet Union in 1979.

The missile system can track 100 targets and engage up to 12 simultaneously, it said.