Russia will start preliminary tests of its state-of-the-art S-500 Prometheus air defense system in 2020, Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko said on December 28.

The first serial model of the S-500 is expected to be delivered in 2025, Krivoruchko said in an interview with the defense ministry’s official newspaper Red Star.

The S-500 air defense system is designed to intercept long- and medium-range ballistic missiles as well as aircraft. The system is a further development of the current S-400 air defense system, which is capable of destroying targets at a distance of up to 400 km and a height of up to 30 km.