The Russian Ministry of Defense and the Air Defense Missile Forces of the Russian Air and Space Force (VKS) published an official video for the first time on 22 July (currently no longer available online) showing the new S-500 Prometheus (55R6M) air defense system from the manufacturer Almaz-Antey in action.
According to official information, the missile – launched during a test campaign in Kapustin Yar near Astrakhan in southern Russia – successfully shot down the replacement target of a simulated ballistic missile. Clearly focused on missile defense, S-500 is designed to defeat the entire spectrum of existing and foreseeable future air and space attack weapons of a potential enemy at all altitudes and speeds. For the latter, the focus is likely to be on the final approach phase. Major General Sergei Babakov, commander of the ground-based long-range air defense system for the protection of own forces as well as key and metropolitan areas – which was never tackled at all in Austria after 1955 and is now being revived in Switzerland with Patriot – in the Russian VKS commented: “Currently, troop trials and deployment tests are being carried out in which air and missile targets are intercepted and engaged. All tests have ended positively so far, in some cases dozens of kilometers further away and earlier than previously possible. We are currently introducing two new systems, the S-350 Witajz (= “Knight” or “Recke”) is currently being launched and the introduction of the S-500 has been scheduled. In addition to manned and unmanned aircraft, the latter system can also engage all ballistic targets – including hypersonic weapons in near-Earth space. It is safe to say that Prometheus has no equivalent in the world.”
New missile on a familiar chassis
What has clearly been launched here is almost certainly the two-stage 77H6 missile from Novator, which is similar to the 9M82 (a missile from the F-35 precursor system S-400 Triumf, which was also installed in Syria and “sacrificed” by Turkey for this purpose), only with a larger booster. Depending on the firing angle, the range is said to be more than 600 kilometers. However, unlike the 9M82 (NATO: “Giant”), which also has two stages, or the 40N6 of the S-400, the 77H6 is a “hit-to-kill” type, which is intended to hit the enemy warhead kinetically and destroy it. In any case, they do not (yet) want to show any more details officially; it is obvious that they deliberately tried to make those parts of the video unrecognizable in which the missile could be easily identified immediately after leaving the launch tube. After around 6 seconds, the separation already occurs. It is also striking that in one sequence the lid of the two launch tubes, which are apparently larger (thicker and longer) than those of the S-300/400, flies completely (far) away. These are similar to those of the Bastion coastal anti-ship complex. Its 10×10 transport and launch vehicle (TEL) is the BAZ-69096 known from the S-300VMK Abakhan system. As it is also mobile by road, rail and air, the S-500 can make a significant contribution to the Russian (but also the Chinese) “bubble” philosophy of denial of access and area denial (A2/AD = Anti-Access / Area Denial) when deployed abroad. For example, near NATO’s eastern border, such as the Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad or around Crimea in the Black Sea. This is also aimed specifically at Western SIGINT collectors such as E-3, 737 and 767-AEW, E-2D, P-8 and similar types. 
Years of delays
The S-500 has been the subject of repeated, similar announcements for a good five years. According to the brochure at MAKS, the manufacturer began developing the S-500 (then still known as Triumfator-M) back in 2009. In 2010, it was announced that it would be ready by 2015. However, it took until February 2018 for the first tests with the 40N6 missile and firing ranges of up to 480 kilometers. Now, the “imminent completion of work and first delivery before the end of the year” has been announced for this April. The S-500 will then initially be made operational in Balashika as part of the defense shield around the capital Moscow. There it will replace the silo-based missile defense system (ABM) A-135 and its successor A-235 Nudol (also in silos – see video). However, actual series production is not scheduled to begin until 2024/25, a date given by Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko in 2020 on the basis of the corresponding state treaties signed that year. Russian media are also speculating about a possible sea-based naval version of the S-500, based on the same development pattern as the S-300 and S-400, both of which have their analogs on Russian warships.
As far as this latest version is concerned, the future guided missile destroyer Lider is mentioned here, but this ambitious program is said to have been (temporarily?) suspended again in 2020. In any case, there are no explicit funds for it in the current naval budget. 
Not soon enough
From a Russian perspective, the expanded capabilities of the S-500 cannot come soon enough, as the US is currently pushing ahead with its plans to modernize all three branches of its nuclear triad and to develop new strategic and stationary weapon delivery systems, including cruise missiles, upgraded ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles and rocket artillery. However, as for the aforementioned alleged hypersonic missile defense capability (the Russian Navy fired its own Zircon for the first time last week – see report), it is unclear whether this refers to incoming ballistic missiles in their terminal phase of flight or to the new class of weapons in general, which cruise at Mach 5+. In any case, all of these scenarios are based on considerable computer and radar power (the radar for S-500 is said to be the LEMZ 96L6-TsP Yenisey, first sighted in April 2018). While retaining its inherent flexibility, the S-500 also retains the ability to combat traditional air-breathing threats (fighter aircraft, UCAVS) at very long range. And in this respect, the first exports are already on the horizon in a few years’ time – following its introduction in Russia. In addition to Turkey (see report), China (report).
