Air defense has been strengthened in the regions near the SMO zone

The number of units equipped with S-400, S-300PM2, S-350 anti-aircraft missile systems and Pantsir-S complexes has doubled in areas that are close to the zone of a special military operation, said the commander of the air and missile defense forces, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces, General-Lieutenant Andrey Demin in an interview with the magazine "Red Star".

Demin stressed that this increase is necessary for the air defense systems to be able to protect important infrastructure facilities on the territory of Russia. Air defense systems are deployed in the Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions on the border territories and at the maximum range of enemy air attack means. On the territory of the annexed regions, air defense units and formations were formed, which are engaged in covering important facilities and large administrative and industrial centers in the "special operation" zone.

The Lieutenant General clarified that the Pantsir-S combat vehicles and the S-400, Buk-M3 and S-300V4 anti-aircraft missile systems have shown their effectiveness in the fight against various aerial targets, including drones. In the fight against strategic-level drones such as the American RQ-4 and MQ-9 or the operational-tactical Turkish Bayraktar TB2, there are practically no fundamental differences compared to countering manned aviation. More than 100 Bayraktars delivered to Ukraine were destroyed as part of a special operation.

Last year, the air defense associations received the first Russian reconnaissance and counteraction systems for tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, called "RLK-MC". They are also used to protect state facilities and can detect tactical drones operating at low and extremely low altitudes at a distance of up to 20 km, as well as issue target indications to air defense fire systems. Lieutenant General Demin noted that these complexes are capable of creating a protective radio-electronic dome over the defense object.

This year, it is planned to supply several additional samples of RLK-MC to the air defense forces, and from 2024 the number of supplied complexes will increase annually to 20. He also said that in connection with Finland's accession to the North Atlantic Alliance and preparations for Sweden's entry into the alliance, the air defense forces are engaged in protecting the state border in the north-west of the country in accordance with the increasing level of threats.