New Russian surface to air missile system deployed along border to Norway
The Tor-M2DT has been officially handed over units in the Northern Fleet’s motorized infantry units in Pechenga.
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The new mobile system that is placed on powerful belt wagons and can operate in temperatures down to minus 50 was officially handed over the units in the Pechenga area this week, the Russian Armed Forces inform.
The new local cruise missile division has been under development since August and servicemen now with excellence handle the air defense system, the Northern Fleet says.
The Pechenga valley is located in the Kola Peninsula along the borders to neighboring Norway and Finland. The distance from the local military bases to Norway is only about 10 km.
Less than 100 km away is located Vardø. the Norwegian town known for housing the Globus intelligence radar system.
According to the Northern Fleet, the purpose of the deployment of the Tor-M2DT is to secure air space control and defense.
The Tor-M2DT is a variant of the Tor system (SA-15 «Gauntlet») that first was introduced in the late 1980s. It is carried by DT-30PM all-terrain vehicles and is reportedly capable of detecting over 40 air targets, and track and engage up to four of them simultaneously at a range of up to 12 km and altitudes up to 10 km with its 16 missiles even on the move.
It is not the only new missile system that recently has been deployed in the border areas to Norway. In July it became clear that the Bal (NATO name SSC-6 or Sennight) coastal missile system had been moved from its permanent deployment location to the Sredny Peninsula on the coast to the Barents Sea.
It was believed that shooting with the Bal system would be made in course of this year as part of a planned exercise by the Northern Fleet. The system is first of all made for targeting surface ships, but can also be applied against land targets.
