Russia installs S-400 in Kaliningrad in response to US missile defense system

The Russian Baltic Fleet has received the strategic S-400 anti-missile system, capable of destroying ballistic missiles. As the headquarters of the fleet reported to "Izvestia," the C-400 Division is deployed in the brigade of military-space defense of the Baltic Fleet near Kaliningrad. It became the third in the country - two others are stationed in the Moscow region (in the vicinity of the towns Elektrostal and Dolgoprudny), as a part of the troops of aerospace defense. "The S-400 complex is intended to cover Russia's western borders from attacks from the air and from space," a source explained to "Izvestia", refusing to clarify the parameters of the expanded complex.
The purpose of the S-400 "Triumph" anti-aircraft rocket complex is to combat air attack weapons (tactical and ballistic missiles, aircraft, including those based on "Stealth" technology, and other air targets) in the defense of administrative and political centers, critical facilities and areas in heavy fire and electronic
counteraction. According to open data, the S-400 can detect airborne targets flying at speeds of up to 4.8 km/s at a distance of 600 km. The area of effect from antiaircraft missiles is 400 km at a height of 5 meters to 30 kilometers above the surface. The complex can shoot down ballistic missiles at an altitude of 60 km.

It is noteworthy that the Baltic S-400 complex will not enter into the system of forces of aerospace defense, created on January 1st 2012. However, the headquarters of ASD do not exclude that in the long run it will happen. "Composition of ASD is still limited by the so-called ring of defense of Moscow. The remaining air defenses, including strategic ones, are in service of the District Air Defense Command. In the future they will become part of the ASD, but it is hard to say when," a representative of the ASD says.

At the headquarters of the Baltic Fleet it is said that, although the Navy is not engaged in missile defense, the servicemen who support the operation of the C-400 will officially serve in the Baltic Fleet. "All the forces and means on the territory of the Kaliningrad region, including strategic air defense, are subordinated to the commander of the Baltic Fleet, except for the distant radar detection station ‘Voronezh-DM’,  which is a part of the system of missile warning. This is what the structure is like, since all other controls are located at a considerable distance," an official of the fleet headquarters explains.

The representative of the Baltic Fleet said that in fact the Fleet is a military micro-district, despite being a part of the Western Military District. Therefore, management of complexes will be carried out through the command of the fleet. Until 2020 the Ministry of Defense plans to deploy 56 S-400 battalions in the country.