50R6 Vityaz (S-350E) Russian Medium-Range Air Defense Missile System
S-350 Knight
The S-350 Vityaz is an advanced mobile medium-range air defense system being developed by Almaz-Antey Concern as the replacement for the S-125 Pechora (SA-3 Goa) and Buk-M1/2 (SA-11 Gadfly and SA-17 Grizzly) missile systems by 2015/2016 as well as aging S-300PS air defense systems. The missile weapon system consists of a command post, an X-band multi-functional fire control, tracking, and surveillance radar, and up to three missile launchers with 12, originally 10, 9M96E missiles or two 9M100 short-range missiles replacing one 9M96E missile. The rotating phased array X-band radar has been designed for operations in high clutter and heavy jamming environments. All the Vityaz components are mounted on 8x8 all-terrain trucks or similar vehicles. The weapon system is designed to engage a wide spectrum of threats at ranges of up to 40 kilometers such as fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles, and tactical ballistic missiles. The Vityaz is able to detect and track up to 40 targets simultaneously while engaging eight of them with two missiles per target. Its development started in 2007. A Russian press article, released in August 2011, stated that the Vityaz leveraged some technology from the S-300 air defense system family but with each launch vehicle carrying 16 missiles instead of only four. The new air defense system combat capabilities also surpass largely those of the S-300 family. The Russian Armed Forces expect to deploy the Vityaz medium-range air defense system along with the Morfei, S-400, and S-500 air defense systems to produce a highly effective multi-layered air defense network capable to shoot down targets flying from altitudes of five kilometers to near space. The 50R6A Vityaz missile system consists of: * 1-2 50N6A multifunctional passively electronically scanned array radar stations. 360° coverage for early detection, target illumination, and missile guidance. * 1 50K6A command post, fully autonomous combat work with interaction with other remote systems. * 1-8 50P6 launcher (12-96 missiles). * 9M96/9M96E(E2) guided missiles; passive guidance and other missiles with active homing guidance. 12– 120 km (7.5–74.6 mi) range, aerodynamic control surfaces, and jet engines of control surfaces. * 9M100 guided missiles; 10–15 km (6.2–9.3 mi) range; infrared passive homing; aerodynamic control surfaces and jet engines of control; maximum maneuver 60 G-20 surfaces.