The Persian Gulf War and NATO's military action in Yugoslavia have clearly demonstrated that warplanes, cruise missiles, and air-defense complexes play a major role in modern warfare. Of the variety of air-defense weapons, Russia has one of the best in the world: the S-300PMU-1. The missile launcher intercepts nearly 100 percent of warplanes, cruise missiles, tactical ballistic missiles and other flying objects. High intensity radio noise does not affect its accuracy.

Independent experts believe the system has no equal in the West and is superior to American Patriot, British Rapier, and French Crotales systems. Russia is eager to promote the S-300 weapon on the world market and the missile launcher was flown in exhibitions in several countries. The system developed by the Almaz Central Design Bureau, has not yet undergone battle testing, but at the IDEX-93 International Weapons Show.

Spectators witnessed a live test of the system. Following this exhibition, many countries developed a keen interest in the S-300. Russia has already supplied S-300 complexes to China and Cyprus, and negotiations are underway with several other countries.

The United States, Great Britain and France are watching Russia's success in promoting the S-300 on the world market, but the United States is itself on the list of S-300 importers. In 1994, the U.S. bought an S-300PMU control unit from Belarus and a small batch of compatible missiles from Ukraine to get a closer look at the competitive technology.

The United States Army actually has been using the Patriot air-defense system since 1983. However, despite the aggressive advertising campaign used to promote it, after its unexpected poor performance in the Persian Gulf War faith in Patriot has dropped. During the Gulf War, not a single Iraqi warplane was shot down with Patriot's help, and its accuracy in hitting Iraqi tactical ballistic missiles turned out to be 50 percent lower than test-range results. Patriot frequently only caused Iraqi missiles to deviate from their trajectory by 3 to 4 kilometers, allowing the missiles to reach their targets and inflict substantial damage anyway. Although at least three to four Patriot missiles were sent to intercept every Iraqi "Scud" missile, many Iraqi missiles successfully exploded in Israel nonetheless.

The S-300 is more efficient and practical than its competitors and its international reputation as the leading air defense system is well deserved. It is composed of a radar, up to eight missile launchers each carrying four guided missiles, supplementary and maintenance units, and a missile storage station. The complex can be deployed in 5 minutes and be prepared for send-off from any unprepared site, whereas Patriot requires 30 minutes for deployment. The S-300 can also fire at six targets at once, launching one or two missiles at each. It uses solid fuel and single-stage guided missiles developed by the Fakel Engineering Bureau, each of which is 1,800 kilograms at launch, 7.5 meters long and approximately 0.5 meters in diameter. They can be stored fully-equipped in launching containers and do not require any maintenance, checks or adjustments for 10 years.

The S-300 missiles in general have more capabilities than their counterparts. They are launched with the help of a catapult held in a vertical position, which allows the unit to aim at flying objects approaching from all directions without rotating the launcher. Patriot can hit targets strictly within a 90 degree range. The S-300 is also capable of tracking its missile and target using jet vanes, despite the speed of 1,900 meters per second the missile picks up 12 seconds after launch. S-300 missiles attack low-flying targets from the top. The method has proved effective: it is 80 to 93 percent accurate in hitting tactical and strategic warplanes, and 80 to 98 percent accurate in hitting low-flying cruise missiles like ALCM. Patriot's accuracy, however, is only 40 to 60 percent. The S-300 can also hit targets from 3 to 150 kilometers away and at an altitude of 10 to 27 kilometers, while the Patriot system has an effective range of only 5 to 100 kilometers and an altitude range from 60 meters to 24 kilometers.

Russia's latest development is the S-300PMU-2 "Favorite," an improved version of the S-300. "We have always seen our task as creating a system that is effective not only against all warplane types and strategic cruise missiles, but also against ballistic missiles," the chief designer of the S-300, Boris Bunkin says. "Desert Storm demonstrated that it is not enough to hit a ballistic missile and cause it to lose trajectory. It is important to destroy its warhead. We have solved this problem. The tests that involved live Scud missiles demonstrated that the S-300PMU-2 'Favorite' effectively destroys warheads at the point of interception."

When interceptor missiles are used with the S-300PMU-2, it can hit targets at distances of up to 200 kilometers. The "Favorite" possesses heightened interception efficiency for tactical ballistic missiles and all types of cruise missiles, including relief enveloping ones. These advanced missiles can also be used with the S-300PMU-1 after minor adjustments, which can actually be performed in the field.

The lack of efficiency and convenience demonstrated by Patriot has prompted the Raiteon Corporation to launch modernization efforts. Experts say, however, that American air-defense complexes will only catch up with the technology of the S-300PMU-2 in three generations. At the moment, the S-300PMU-2 is 30 to 50 percent superior to Patriot in terms of comparable parameters.

What makes S-300 even more attractive is its low price and low maintenance costs, which are 25 to 50 percent less than those of the Patriot. Even NATO could easily integrate the S-300PMU-1 and S-300PMU-2 in its standard weaponry, making them excellent products on the global arms market.