Russia deploys S-300 in Novaya Zemlya
A new regiment equipped with the lethal long range surface-to-air missile system becomes operative in the Arctic archipelago.
The latest piece in Russia’s miltary build-up in the Arctic is the deployment of a fully-fledged missile-powered regiment in Novaya Zemlya.
The regiment will have at its disposal a series of modernized S-300 units, the mobile missile system which can hit enemy targets at up to 400 km range, the press service of the Russian Armed Forces informs.
The new military unit is the first fully-featured Northern Fleet unit stationed on an Arctic archipelago. Until now, only smaller groups and sub-units have operated in the area, the press service says.
The development of the regiment and the shipment of the S-300 system has taken place in the course of the year.
The S-300 is considered among the world’s most potent surface-to-air missile system. It has been a core component in the Soviet Union’s and Russia’s Armed Forces since it came into service in 1978.
A newly developed model of the missile system is called the S-400 and was in 2014 deployed in the Kola Peninsula.
Russia is the process of significantly upgrade its military bases in the Arctic. In addition to the Novaya Zemlya forces, the country will have powerful round-the-year troops stationed in the Franz Josef Land, the New Siberian Islands and several more places.
As previously reported, the complex ”Severny Klever” at the island of Kotelny in the New Siberial Islands will be able to house 250 people, among them both military personell and service staff. At the Alexander Island in the Franz Josef Land, a total of 150 military officers will be able to live automously for 1,5 years at the complex.
By year 2018, Russia intends to have a total of nine operative Arctic airfields, some of which are under modernization, some under total reconstruction.
