Russia shows its new S-500 air defense system in action

The Russian Ministry of Defense has released video footage that showing the test launch of the newest S-500 surface-to-air missile system.

For the first time, the Russian military reveals its new air defense system based on a 10-wheel drive military truck chassis BAZ-69096.

According to a press release issued Tuesday by Russian Defense Ministry, the S-500 system successfully intercepted a fast-moving ballistic target at the Kapustin Yar range.

- ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW -

“The S-500 state-of-the-art missile system has carried out a test launch at the Kapustin Yar training range to intercept the fast-moving ballistic target. According to data recorders, the target was hit,” the military agency noted.

The ministry underlined, “the test launch conducted as part of the test trials confirmed the missile system’s tactical and technical performance characteristics and high reliability of Russia’s air defense military hardware.” “We plan that the first S-500 system will be procured to the Moscow Region’s air and missile defense unit after a full cycle of tests is completed,” the ministry added.

According to open source, the new air defense system would be able to detect and simultaneously engage up to 10 ballistic hypersonic targets that are flying at a speed ranging from about 11,000 mph to 16,000 mph.

Readers who wish to follow our weekly coverage can subscribe to the Weekly Defense Roundup.

If you wish to report a grammatical or factual error in this article, please let us know by using the online form.

Executive Editor

Support The Defence Blog

Independent reporting takes resources. Join us on Patreon.

Become a patron

More Like This

Kremlin moves to launch new mobilization wave

Russia is preparing a new mobilization wave, and the evidence is no longer confined to analyst assessments — it is showing up in deleted...

Ukraine hunts down Russian jammers targeting Starlink satellites

The satellite communication network that Ukrainian forces depend on to coordinate everything from drone strikes to artillery fire has a new enemy, and Ukraine...

Russian Tu-22M3 supersonic bomber crashes in Siberia

A supersonic bomber that Russia uses to launch cruise missiles at Ukrainian cities came down in a field near the Siberian city of Svirsk...

Ukraine faces 8x more jet-powered Russian drones than last year

Russia has sharply accelerated its use of jet-powered attack drones against Ukraine in 2026, with its forces already launching 1,400 such weapons since January,...

Sweden’s fighters launched twice Friday to shadow Russian warplanes

Swedish fighter jets launched twice in a single Friday to intercept Russian military aircraft operating near Swedish airspace over the Baltic Sea, in what...

China-linked spy site in Cuba is now fully operational

A sprawling Cuban intelligence facility just 145 kilometers (90 miles) from the Florida coast has completed construction of a powerful new antenna array capable...