Tests of the Russian-made S-400 air defense system, purchased last year from Moscow, took place last week in the northern Turkish province of Sinop – in the Black Sea region. The fact of the tests was confirmed by Ankara on Thursday. Although it would be strange not to confirm this data, if before that a video of air defense missile systems and missile launches appeared on the network.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, answering American journalists when they asked about the deployment, He stated, that the S-400 will not be integrated into NATO's command and control structure, but instead will be "used as a stand-alone system", same, as in service with the North Atlantic Alliance S-300. So Akar made a reference to the complex, which is in service with Greece: referred to Athens, having in their arsenal S-300 air defense systems and Russian-made missiles.
experts believe, that the official statement of Turkey on testing the air defense system, purchased from the Russian Federation, could provoke tensions between Ankara and Washington, who claims, that Russian missiles pose a serious threat to the military equipment of the alliance.
According to the director of the Turkish office of the analytical center of the German Marshall Fund of the USA Ozgur Unluhisarjikli, Turkey's argument, that the S-400 will be an autonomous system, not connected to the NATO radar network, did not calm the Americans. Besides, expert thinks, that the effectiveness of the S-400 as an autonomous air defense system is highly questionable. According to the director of the Turkish office of the Marshall Foundation, S-400 was not originally created as a separate complex.
In particular, experts suggest, how the S-400 is used by Russia in Syria – in a system with other means of air defense and early warning (including means of obtaining data from space). It is in such a system that the complex is most effective..
