S-350 Vityaz [Knight / Hero] (50R6) / SA-28
The S-350 Vityaz is a mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, which entered service with the Russian armed forces in 2019. The SAM is designed to destroy both ballistic and aerodynamic targets, which include combat aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and cruise missiles, such as the US’ Tomahawks and the UK’s Storm Shadows. It was developed by Almaz-Antey Company as a replacement for the ageing S-300PS, which was developed back in the early 1980s. The 9M96E naval version guided missile under development will be called Redut.
The Vityaz ("Knight") complements the Morfey, the S-400 and the S-500 air defense systems in the future aerospace defense network to engage targets at ranges from five to 400 kilometers, and at altitudes from five meters to near space. The Vityaz, which is expected to replace the outdated S-300 systems, is superior to similar foreign models, according to Almaz-Antei statement. The system has been in the works since 2007 and features advanced all-aspect phased array radar, a new mobile command post and a launcher carrying 12 vertical-launch missiles, which used a variant of the 9M96 active radar homing missile.
The Vityaz-350 systems were initially scheduled to enter service in 2016. The S-350E Vityaz (Knight) is a short-to-mid range air defense missile system intended to provide point defense against aircraft and precision attacks. It was developed by Almaz-Antey Company as a replacement for the ageing S-300PS, which was developed back in the early 1980s. The 9M96E naval version guided missile under development will be called Redut.
ICD "Torch" began work on the new 9M96 missiles with a range of up to 50 km in the late 1980s. The design of the missile rocket motors used lateral movement large maneuvering. High accuracy destruction of air targets was provided by active homing. Simultaneously, the SAM is also proposed to use 9M100 air-to-air guided missiles with an even smaller size, and different in design. Oe of the more intriguing characteristic of the MRADS / Vityaz is that it is a dual-missile system, whereby each of the standard containers can be replaced by a pack of four smaller and shorter weapons The task of creating a unified missile system then was a priority, while they were engaged and ICD "Torch" and OKB "Innovator" that could give a chance to enter the "air-air" arms market, which had been a monopoly in the USSR of the "Vympel.
The first set of these complexes was transferred to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in December 2019. Almost 150 launchers of the S-350 Vityaz air defense system will be delivered to the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) by the end of 2027, the Russian Defense Ministry said. “Until the end of the current state armament program for 2018-2027, the industry must transfer 12 S-350 system divisions to the Air and Space Forces anti-aircraft missile forces. Each division has 12 fire installations, and they, in turn, have 12 missiles,” - they said in the department. The Ministry of Defense clarified that one division also includes up to three multifunctional radar stations and a combat control center. The system division may be given automated reconnaissance and target designation equipment and combat vehicles of the Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile and cannon system.
Russian Air Force will be adopted until 2020, more than 30 anti-aircraft missiles of average range "Hero". On this, as reported by RIA Novosti 24 January 2012, said the official representative of the Russian Defence Ministry Colonel Vladimir Drik. According to him, the new facilities will have to replace the outdated S-300P. In addition to the "Knights" in troops would also put about a hundred anti-aircraft missile and gun complexes "Carapace-C1".
Russia’s Almaz-Antei corporation showcased for the first time its newest S-350E Vityaz mid-range air defense system at the MAKS-2013 air show near Moscow, August 27 to September 1. The new Russian system was reportedly shown to President Vladimir Putin during his 19 June 2013 visit to a St. Petersburg plant where it is being manufactured by the Almaz-Antei corporation. Almaz-Antey planned to hand over the system to the Russian Defense Ministry for testing before the end of 2013 and start deliveries to the Russian military in 2014.
Russia’s Almaz-Antei defense corporation planned to start deliveries of its newest S-350E Vityaz mid-range air defense system to the Russian army in 2016, the company said 11 September 2013. In 2015 the chief of the Almaz-Antei concern, Yan Novikov, said that the S-350 system Vityaz will begin to be batch-produced in 2015. As of July 2015, the S-350 Vityaz missiles were scheduled to enter service in 2016.
Russia’s air defenders will soon be using super-maneuverable missile systems equipped with new generation munitions, a Defense Ministry spokesman said on 08 July 2015. “In addition to the S-400 systems, our air defense forces will start receiving the S-350 Vityaz missiles, which are more maneuverable and boast self-homing warheads of a new generation,” Colonel Igor Klimov told RIA Novosti news agency.
The crews of the anti-aircraft missile forces began to master the first S-350 Vityaz air defense system at a training center in Gatchina. This was reported on 26 February 2020 by reporters in the Ministry of Defense. "The first newest complex of anti-aircraft missile forces S-350" Vityaz "entered the VKS - recently the complex arrived at the training center of the anti-aircraft missile forces in Gatchina," the department said.
In Gatchina, combat crews will be trained in the use of the new complex. In particular, the Ministry of Defense specified, a training center has already been trained to detect and destroy a conditional air enemy. "The combat crew of the S-350 air defense system demonstrated its skills, destroyed electronic launches of a conditional enemy and made a march to a new position area," the ministry said. The Ministry of Defense recalled that combat firing from the "Knights" had been carried out earlier at a military training ground in the Astrakhan region during the acceptance of the complex from industry.
In January 2021, the Ministry of Defense said that the first anti-aircraft missile regiment is planned to be re-equipped with the S-350 in 2021. Previously, the S-350 system was supplied for training specialists at a training center in the Leningrad Region. In May 2021, the commander of the Southern Military District, Alexander Dvornikov, announced that the S-350 had entered service with the Southern Military District. "One of the district's anti-aircraft missile regiments has already started rearmament with this new model," Dvornikov said at the time. According to the press service of the Southern Military District, this is a regiment based in the Krasnodar Territory. On 08 November 2021, Dvornikov said that the new S-350 Vityaz systems were preparing to take up combat duty in southern Russia.
South Korea's Cheongung (Iron Hawk) MR-SAM, was co-developed by a consortium of entities that included Russia’s Almaz Design Bureau, the ADD, LIG Nex1, Samsung-THALES and Doosan DST, was developed within a five-year period and entered the series-production phase. Some sources claim that in Russia, the Cheongung was produced as the S-350E Vityaz, but in fact the timelines are incongruent and the hardware is not even superficially similar. It is generally reported that the Cheongung project had contact with Russian developers, but any transfusion of technology seems to have been at the component level.
Russian air defense complex S-350 Vityaz has automatically destroyed a real air target for the first time ever, during combat operations in the area of Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine, Russian Industry Minister Denis Manturov said 13June 2023. "Just recently, [Russian metallurgy and heavy machine-building] Obukhov Plant has announced that the S-350 Vityaz anti-aircraft missile system, hit a target in the area of the special operation [in Ukraine] in automatic mode for the first time in the world, using artificial intelligence without the participation of the human," Manturov said. Vityaz had performed fully automatic detection, tracking and destruction of Ukrainian combat aircraft and drones in the area of the special operation for the first time ever. The automatic mode was implemented through the principle of non-interference by humans in decisions made by AI.
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