The Air Defense-Air Force of Vietnam has successfully upgraded the Russian-made air defense missile system S-125-2TM Pechora after a recent test launch in Hanoi, government website chinhphu.vn reported.

The Air Defense-Air Force is a service which assumes the responsibilities of both national air defense and air forces, according to the Ministry of Defense.

It is the core force responsible for the control and defense of airspace, protection of the nation’s key facilities and the people, and participates in safeguarding the homeland’s seas and islands.

The Air Defense-Air Force, in cooperation with foreign experts, last Thursday held a test launch for three upgraded S-125-2TM Pechora systems, part of the second phase of a scheme to upgrade the medium-range Pechora air defense missile for the service.

The test launch was witnessed by many senior military officials, including Colonel General Luong Cuong, member of the Party Central Committee, member of the Central Military Commission, and Vice Chairman of the General Political Department; and Lieutenant-General Phuong Minh Hoa, member of the Party Central Committee and Commander of the Air Defense-Air Force.

After receiving a command, the three air defense missile systems destroyed their targets with their first round of fire, ensuring the absolute safety of people and equipment.

This version of the S-125-2TM Pechora system is an upgrade package of the short-to-medium-range air defense missiles.

Compared to the previous model, the S-125-2TM air defense missile system now takes much less time to deploy and to fully recover after each launch, and it has robust interference resistance, a high probability of killing its target, including cruise missiles, according to the Air Defense-Air Force.

The fire control system was also upgraded to become more powerful. The system now has the ability to fire two missiles to lock on and hit two targets with very small radar reflector areas simultaneously, said the Air Defense-Air Force.

The S-125-2TM Pechora, also known as the Pechora-2TM, is an upgraded version of the S-125 / Pechora air defense missile system that can destroy advanced, small aerial attack platforms flying at low altitudes.

The system can also be deployed against ground and water-surface targets that are visible to radar, according to airforce-technology.com.

The missile system, equipped with a GPS navigation platform, is capable of engaging targets in severe jamming environments and can operate independently or be integrated into an air defense grouping.

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