S-500 missile system

According to the original plans, ten S-500 battalions were to be purchased for the Russian Aerospace Defense (VKO) under the State Armament Programme 2020 (GPV-2020). As of 2013, the S-500s were intended to work in parallel with S-400s, and the systems together were planned to replace most of the S-300 missile systems. The first units are planned to be deployed around the Moscow Oblast and the country's central area in 2025. CEO of Rostec Corporation Sergey Chemezov declared the beginning of S-500 production on 30 June 2019. Despite that, serial production of the first 10 systems (ordered in late 2020) only began in 2021. In summer 2020 Sergey Surovikin, the commander of the Aerospace Forces, seemed to confirm that the S-500 system can be used to kill satellites. A new contract was signed in August 2022. In October 2023, Defense News claimed that production of S-500 remained behind, being negatively affected by the sanctions against Russia and labor shortages. The cost for one S-500 system was estimated be around $700-$800 million in 2020, and up to $2.5 billion in 2023. In July 2021, the Russian MOD released the first public footage of a live-fire test of the new S-500 anti-ballistic missile system at Kapustin Yar. Operational history The first S-500 prototype went on combat duty in Moscow on 13 October 2021. In its operational debut in Ukraine, the S-500 allegedly proved unsuccessful in defending against Ukrainian launched MGM-140 ATACMS missiles. == Design ==

The S-500 is designed for intercepting and destroying ballistic missiles, as well as hypersonic cruise missiles and aircraft. With a planned range of for anti-ballistic missile (ABM) and for air defense, the S-500 was envisaged to be able to detect and simultaneously engage up to 10 ballistic hypersonic targets flying at up to a maximum of . The altitude of a target engaged is claimed to be as high as. However, as of 2023, the S-500's ability to intercept hypersonic missiles had not yet been tested. It is to have a response time of less than 4 seconds (compared to the S-400's of less than 10). Components The S-500 consists of: • 77P6 Launch vehicle, based on the BAZ-69096 10x10 truck • 55K6MA and 85Zh6-2 Command posts, based on BAZ-69092-12 6x6 • 91N6A(M) Acquisition/Battle Management radar, a modification of the 91N6 (Big Bird) towed by the BAZ-6403.01 8x8 tractor • 96L6-TsP Acquisition radar, an upgraded version of the 96L6 (Cheese Board) on BAZ-69096 10x10 • 76T6 Multimode Engagement radar on BAZ-6909-022 8x8 • 77T6 ABM Engagement radar on BAZ-69096 10x10 The missiles used by the system are: • 40N6M - Anti-aircraft • 77N6 / 77N6-N1 - Anti-ballistic/Anti-satellite ==Export==

In September 2021, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said that India could be a prospective, and probably the first, S-500 customer. In September 2025, it was reported that India was interested in procuring some S-500 units after the stellar performance of its predecessor in Operation Sindoor. However, by October, reports debunked that India is looking to immediately purchase any S-500 missile system. ==See also== • List of medium-range and long-range SAMs • A-135 anti-ballistic missile system • A-235 anti-ballistic missile system • Arrow (Israeli missile) • Arrow 3 • Comparison of anti-ballistic missile systems • Ground-Based Midcourse Defense • Medium Extended Air Defense System • S-300VM missile system • Vityaz missile system • THAAD • ==References==