According to the decision of the supreme commander of the Russian Armed Forces, the system of anti-air defense S-400 was sent and is already operational at the air base of Hmeymim, assured Major General Igor Konashenkov.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense, Konashenkov insisted that the deployment of these missile complexes will guarantee in a more solid way the security of planes that participate in operations against the ISIL and other terrorist groups.
The source recalled that Army general Serguei Shoigu, minister of Defense, gave the order last Wednesday to send that aerospace defense technique to Hmeymim after Turkish planes downed a Russian bombardier Su-24.
He stressed the mission was accomplished by the military transport aviation in 24 hours, moving the S-400 from Moscow to the air base in Syria.
This system is capable of destroying all type of aerospatial weapons, modern or being developed, including targets with maximum speed of up to four thousand 800 meters per second.
Its maximum reach is of 250 kilometers against aerodynamic targets and of 60 km against ballistic objectives, of which it can fight simultaneously 36 with its 72 missiles, in heights from 0.01 to 27 kilometers.
Technical literature available informs the S-400 batteries require only five minutes from the moment the combat alarm is activated and missiles take off until the evaluation of the results of the attack are automatized.
To guarantee security of the Russian air group in Syria, together with the S-400, there is also the Fort complex of the missilecarrier destructor Moskva, sent recently to the coasts of Syrian region of Lattakia.
President Vladimir Putin informed that Russia can also use fighter planes to escort the units of its Aerospatial Force in carrying out the missions against the IS and other terrorist groups in Syria.
ef/lam/jpm
PL-25/MNA