Turkey is preparing to activate and test its S-400 anti-aircraft weapon system near the city Sinop, reports Turkish Minute web portal.
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The Turkish web portal claims to rely on a "a piece of official correspondence dated September 24."
“S-400 weapon system test shots will be fired at the Sinop Missile Range between 05-16 October 2020 to ensure the engagement capability of the S-400 weapons system, the detection and tracking capability of the system’s radars, the communications system capabilities, and the control of the firing and command control capabilities,” reads the document qouted by Turkish Minute.
The web portal adds that according to the document, the Presidency permitted a pre-activation of the defence system, between September 28 and October 2, before the tests in Sinop to test the radar capabilities at the Mürted Airfield Command near Ankara.
S-400 batteries, 10 BANSHEE type aerial targets, a UAV ground control station and other necessary equipment that was to be prepared at Mürted Airbase before September 26 will be moved to Sinop on October 5, according to the Turkish news portal
Russia announced in September 2017 that it had signed a $2.5 billion deal with Turkey on the delivery of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems to Ankara. Under the contract, Ankara got a regiment set of S-400 air defence missile systems (two battalions). The deal also envisages partial transfer of production technology to the Turkish side.
Turkey is the first NATO member state to purchase such air-defence missile systems from Russia. The deliveries of S-400 air defence systems to Turkey began on July 12, 2019.
The United States and NATO made several attempts to prevent Turkey from purchasing Russia's S-400 missile systems. Washington warned on many occasions that it may impose sanctions on Turkey, if Ankara presses ahead with the S-400 deal. On July 17, the press secretary of the US White House said in a written statement that Turkey’s decision to acquire Russian-made S-400 air defence missile systems rendered Ankara’s further participation in the US F-35 program impossible.
Russia’s S-400 Triumf (NATO reporting name: SA-21 Growler) is the most advanced long-range air defence missile system that went into service in Russia in 2007. It is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, including medium-range missiles, and can also be used against ground-based targets. The S-400 can engage targets at a distance of 400 km and at an altitude of up to 35 km
