MOSCOW – The Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile systems will go on combat alert in the Kaliningrad region in the beginning of 2018, the Kommersant newspaper said on Dec. 3.
“They will go on combat alert in the beginning of 2018,” the newspaper said, citing a source close to the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
The 152nd guards missile brigade in Chernyakhovsk, Kaliningrad region, will receive the Iskander systems, it will undergo training in the near future, the newspaper said.
Interfax is yet to obtain the Russian Defense Ministry’s commentary on this article.
On Dec. 1, the press service for Russia’s Baltic Fleet said that an infrastructure to deploy new missile systems is ready in the Kaliningrad region.
“The coastal missile unit near Kaliningrad has formed squadrons of the Bal and Bastion coastal defense missile systems, another missile unit of the Baltic Fleet concluded preparing the infrastructure for new missile systems,” the press service said.
It was not specified which exactly new missile complexes would be deployed.
NATO expressed concern earlier about the possibility of the deployment of the Iskander-M tactical ballistic missile systems to the Kaliningrad region.
The Russian Defense Ministry said last October that missile brigades armed with Iskander-M systems were repeatedly deployed to the Kaliningrad region as part of combat training and that this practice would continue in the future.
The Iskander-M, designed by KB Mashinostroyeniya of the High Precision Systems Holding, can strike targets at a range of up to 500 kilometers. The system is armed with ballistic and cruise missiles to destroy multiple rocket launchers, anti-aircraft and air defense systems, aircraft and helicopters at airfields, as well as an enemy’s command posts and infrastructure.
The export modification of the Iskander-M system has been supplied to two foreign states, Armenia and an unspecified North African country.
