S-350 (Vityaz) Anti-aircraft missile system

2023: System Automatic Mode Test

In the combat conditions of the special operation to protect Donbass, the automatic mode of operation of the Vityaz S-350 anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) was first tested. This was reported on May 24, 2023 by RIA Novosti, citing a source.

Without the participation of the operator, Vityaz carried out the search, escort and defeat of enemy air targets. As a result of the autonomous operation of the complex, several combat aircraft and drones of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) were shot down. According to the interlocutor of the agency, this is an unprecedented experience.

Launcher S-350 Vityaz

The automatic mode was implemented on the principle of the absence of human cancellation of decisions of the elements of the artificial intelligence of the complex within the framework of the emerging air combat situation, that is, the operator simply did not intervene, - he clarified.

At the same time, Vityaz simultaneously worked in both active and passive radar modes. This increases the noise immunity of the complex, as well as its ability to detect and classify targets, the agency's interlocutor said.

As Izvestia writes in the issue of May 24, 2023, the mobile multi-channel anti-aircraft missile system of the Vityaz C-350 not so long ago ceased to be a demonstration model, but is already actively used by Russian employees. The SAM is effective in protecting important facilities: military bases, large cities or nuclear power plants. The maximum range of destruction of targets in S-350 is 120 km. The gun can work autonomously, as well as as part of the air defense group (air defense). The system is designed to protect state, administrative, industrial and military facilities and groupings of troops from attacks by modern and promising means of air attack.

The head of the Bureau of Military-Political Analysis, Alexander Mikhailov, comparing air defense systems, said that the Vityaz S-350 would be cheaper than the American Patriot anti-aircraft missile system.

The expert explained that American technology is always more overrated. He noted that Vityaz is much more profitable to buy, and Russia as a partner is much more reliable than the United States.^[1]

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