"We are commissioning only mobile air defense systems at present, and we are not interested in stationary defenses any longer," said Col. General Anatoly Nogovitsin, deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force.
The general said the decision [to deploy only mobile systems] will allow Russia to increase the "survivability" of military personnel and weaponry and to quickly create large air defense formations in areas that need urgent protection from air strikes.
"Our new mobile air defense systems allow us to promptly concentrate air defenses in areas that are facing the threat of massive air and missile strikes," Nogovitsin said.
The general said that the Air Force has recently been procuring S-400 Triumf, S-300 PMU2 Favorit (NATO codename SA-10 Grumble) and Pantsyr S1 mobile air defense systems, which are capable of destroying any aircraft, ballistic or cruise missiles, or guided bombs.
The Pantsyr S1 short-range air defense missile-gun system is currently being tested during joint Air Force and Air Defense Forces exercises at the Ashukuk testing grounds in southern Russia. The system will replace the Tunguska M1 complex in the Russian military following the successful completion of testing.
Nogovitsin said the Russian Air Force will receive the first Pantsyr S1 complexes in 2008.
"The new system is very promising and we are eagerly awaiting its deployment," the general said.
Russia has also signed Pantsyr S1 sales contracts with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan, and Syria, and is currently in talks with Algeria on the deliveries of this highly sought-after weapons system.
"We have concluded $2.6 billion worth of contracts for the delivery of this system," Russia's KBP Instrument Design Bureau, which manufactures the system, said last year.
