SIMFEROPOL, February 8. /TASS/. Combat teams of an S-400 air defense missile battalion from the Southern Military District’s Air Force and Air Defense Army conducted drills in Crimea to deploy advanced S-400 missile systems, the Black Sea Fleet’s press office reported on Friday.

"The launchers performed a march on their own to the designated positioning area where the military hardware was readied from its travel to its combat position. After that, the combat crews checked the position of the surface-to-air missile systems on the ground," the press office said.

The combat crews searched for and engaged a controlling target simulated by an unmanned aerial vehicle. During the subsequent stages of the drills, the crews will make electronic launches of missiles against notional air targets, the press office said.

The S-400 Triumf mobile multi-channel air defense missile system is designed to defend vital military facilities and infrastructural installations and features better capabilities compared to its S-300PM predecessor.

Russia’s S-400 Triumf is the latest medium-and long-range surface-to-air missile system that went into service in 2007. It is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, and can also be used against ground installations. The S-400 can engage targets at a distance of 400 km and at an altitude of up to 30 km.