Russia may hand over the S-300 air defense system to Tajikistan in two years after training specialists.
According TASS, Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu remarked this yesterday at a meeting of the Defense Ministry board.
Russian defense ministry reportedly noted that Russia’s military and social infrastructure aboard is actively developing.
This year, a divisional set of the air defense system S-300PS has entered combat duty at the Russian 201st military base in Tajikistan, the Russian minister noted.
“This system may be handed over to the Armed Forces of Tajikistan in two years after completion of training of their specialists,” Shoigu said.
Recall, the Russian military deployed S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Tajikistan in October. The first ever crews of air defense systems S-300PS reputedly entered combat duty at the Russian military base in Tajikistan on December 1.
According to some sources, Russia’s deployment of the S-300 to Tajikistan falls under Moscow’s effort to deepen air-defense coordination between the Russian military and the other militaries of the CSTO alliance.
The S-300 is a series of initially Soviet and later Russian long range surface-to-air missile systems produced by NPO Almaz, based on the initial S-300P version. The S-300 system was developed to defend against aircraft and cruise missiles for the Soviet Air Defense Forces. Subsequent variations were developed to intercept ballistic missiles. The system is fully automated, though manual observation and operation are also possible. Components may be near the central command post, or as distant as 40 km. Each radar provides target designation for the central command post. The S-300 is regarded as one of the most potent anti-aircraft missile systems currently fielded.
