A tactical exercise has been conducted for S-300 air defense system crews of the Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan, the Russian Defense Ministry’s website reported on April 6.    

The purpose of the exercise that was conducted at the Lohour training ground was to rehearse the targeting and tracking of means of air attack.

Recall, a divisional set of the air defense system S-300PS has entered combat duty at the Russian 201st military base in Tajikistan on December 1, 2019.

The Russian military deployed S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Tajikistan in October last year and the first ever crews of air defense systems S-300PS reputedly entered combat duty at the Russian military base in Tajikistan on December 1. 

According to some sources, Russia’s deployment of the S-300 to Tajikistan falls under Moscow’s effort to deepen air-defense coordination between the Russian military and the other militaries of the CSTO alliance.  

The S-300 is a series of initially Soviet and later Russian long range surface-to-air missile systems produced by NPO Almaz, based on the initial S-300P version.  The S-300 system was developed to defend against aircraft and cruise missiles for the Soviet Air Defense Forces.  Subsequent variations were developed to intercept ballistic missiles.  The system is fully automated, though manual observation and operation are also possible.  Components may be near the central command post, or as distant as 40 km.  Each radar provides target designation for the central command post.  The S-300 is regarded as one of the most potent anti-aircraft missile systems currently fielded.

The Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan is Russia's largest non-naval military facility outside the country.  It was officially opened in Tajikistan in 2004 under a previous agreement, which was signed in 1993, and hosts Russia’s largest military contingent deployed abroad.

A total of some 7,000 Russian troops are now stationed at two military facilities collectively known as the 201st military base - in Dushanbe and Bokhtar (formerly Qurghon Teppa, some 100 kilometers from Dushanbe.