| The missile brigade of the Western Military District has become the first unit of the Russian Armed Forces to make the switch to Iskander tactical missile systems, military spokesman Col. Andrey Bobrun told Interfax-AVN on Thursday. As the rhetoric between Russia and the US heats up over the latter's plan to build a missile defense system in Eastern Europe, the Russian military said it is introducing a state-of-the-art missile system to defend the western part of the country. "The Western Military District's missile brigade, the first one in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation that has been fully equipped with the most advanced missile systems, known as Iskander, launched tactical exercises at a training range in the Leningrad region today," Bobrun said. The Iskander missile systems are expected to eventually phase out the Tochka tactical missile systems, which have been used by the Armed Forces since the 1970s. Bobrun said the new missile system clearly outperforms its predecessor. "The Iskander complex outperforms its predecessor in all characteristics, including its flight range, target accuracy, warhead weight, ammunition quantity and its speed of movement on paved roads, as well as the cross-country terrain," he said. In a thinly-veiled comment aimed at the European missile defense shield, the spokesman for the Western Military District then mentioned the system's capabilities to "overpower" any and all such defensive systems. One of the main combat advantages ... |