Russia to deploy three S-400 air defence regiments

President Vladimir Putin said Russia would deploy three new regiments equipped with S-400 surface-to-air missile systems next year with more advanced radar stations.

"Two such systems entered service this year. Another three S-400 missile regiments will be supplied to the army in 2014," Putin said Thursday in a meeting on the development of aerospace defence system in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, reports Xinhua.

Noting that the strategic parity depended largely on the state of the missile and space defence system, Putin acknowledged that the deployment of S-400 systems "is proceeding in a scheduled pace".

Currently, Russia has five S-400 regiments, two of which were deployed around Moscow and the rest three in the far eastern Primorye territory, Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad and the Southern Military District, a report said.

The sixth regiment will join the two near Moscow by the end of 2013, and Russia plans to deploy 28 S-400 regiments by 2020, according to the defence ministry.

In addition, the president said seven Voronezh-class radar stations would be put into operation in the next five years, adding such stations are "effective and reliable".

The S-400, which North Atlantic Treaty Organisation calls SA-21 Growler, is capable of destroying airborne targets at a range of 400 km and tactical ballistic missiles at 60 km. The system can be switched to a combat-ready mode in five minutes.