Russia's S‑500 Prometheus: A new era in missile defence?

This year, the Russian military will begin receiving the latest S-500 Prometheus anti-aircraft missile systems. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu made this statement on April 23. Moscow claims that the system will come in two versions and can detect targets at a distance of up to about 2,000 kilometres. What do we know about Prometheus?

Many reports provided by the Russian media or government representatives are elements of propaganda. These reports are part of the informational warfare conducted by the Russian Federation.

The world first learned about the S-500 in 2015, when the system was still in the design phase. Even then, Russian media praised its future capabilities. Mass production of the system began in 2021, and according to the Ukrainian service Defence Express, in the same year, the first S-500s were deployed in the Moscow region, where they were to perform combat duties. In mid-2021, the Russians also ordered ten such systems. Their first deliveries were scheduled for 2022, but there were significant delays.

The S-500 Prometheus is an anti-ballistic and anti-aircraft long-range system, seen as an advanced development of the S-400 system. Compared to the previous model, the weapon has been enhanced with components necessary to intercept ballistic and hypersonic missiles.

Russians present it in superlatives, and according to them, a recent test, which took place on February 21, 2024, at 9:00 GMT, was supposed to prove its effectiveness. As reported by the Russian Ministry of Defence at that time, an S-500 deployed at the Chizha test range successfully intercepted an intercontinental ballistic missile, R-29RMU2 Sineva, launched from the Tula nuclear submarine located in the Laptev Sea.

The information available indicates that the system produced by the Russian concern Almaz-Antey comes in two versions. The first includes a long-range anti-aircraft missile system, and the second is a missile defence complex. It aims to combat a wide range of threats posed by currently available, as well as future, air and space technologies. EurAsian Times points out that the S-500 system will likely "be able to counter fifth-generation aircraft (including the American F-35), low-orbit satellites, and the entire spectrum of missile threats".

According to Russians, Prometheus will be capable of destroying air targets within a range of up to about 600 kilometres and flying at altitudes of up to about 200 kilometres. It is also supposed to attack up to 10 targets simultaneously. The Army Recognition Service notes that its reaction time will be about three to four seconds, significantly shorter than the nine to ten seconds for the S-400. The system will launch different types of missiles tailored to specific threats and operational requirements, including 40N6M missiles and 77N6-N type missiles.

An important element of the S-500 will be an advanced radar complex, which, according to EurAsian Times, consists of four vehicles per battery. These include an S-band detection radar 91N6E(M), a C-band detection radar 96L6-TsP, a radar 76T6, and a radar for detecting anti-ballistic missiles 77T6. Thanks to them, Prometheus will have advanced capabilities in detecting ballistic (reportedly with a range of about 2,000 kilometres, meaning it could cover all of Ukraine) and aerial targets (in this case, the range is supposed to be about 800 kilometres).

According to Russians, only the S-500 can intercept the hypersonic missiles Ch-47M2 Kinzhal. However, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence has a completely different opinion on this matter, as defenders have repeatedly reported that they have managed to shoot down the "elusive" Kinzhals. For example, in early May 2023, Oleksii Reznikov reported the shooting down of six Ch-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. The Ukrainians are said to have used the Patriot system, which fired many missiles at different angles.