S-400 missile system will be on combat duty in Sevastopol February 2018.

An air defense missile regiment armed with the S-400 Triumf (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) system will assume combat duty in Sevastopol in February 2018, Commander of the Russian Southern Military District’s 4th Air Force and Air Defense Army Lieutenant-General Viktor Sevostyanov told TASS.

Russian armed forces S-400 TEL (Transporter Erector Launcher) mobile vehicle at army-2017, International Military Technical Forum near Moscow, Russia.

"The air defense missile regiment stationed in Sevastopol and armed with the S-300PM [SA-20A Gargoyle] system has started to receive the S-400 Triumf system," Sevostyanov said.

The crews are currently accepting the system and then will hold live-firing to check it.

"The S-400 regiment is expected to start to provide air defense in Sevastopol in February 2018," the general said. Pantsyr-S1 (SA-22 Greyhound) antiaircraft missile/gun systems will provide air defense for the S-400 systems.

When the regiment based in Sevastopol receives the advanced system, the effectiveness of the air defenses in the southwestern strategic direction will grow by about 1.5 times, Sevostyanov said.

There are no plans to deploy other S-400 regiments in Crimea and within the area of responsibility of the 4th Air Force and Air Defense Army but the air defense missile regiment stationed in Feodosia will receive a third S-400 system battalion set and Pantsyr-S1 systems in 2018, he added.

© Copyright 2017 TASS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.