MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia's prospective S-500 air defence system will be able to intercept targets hundreds of kilometres above the Earth, Pavel Sozinov, general designer at the Almaz-Antey defence concern said.

"The interception in the upper atmosphere is real. It is hundreds of kilometres above the Earth," Sozinov said in an interview with Arkady Mamontov in his YouTube program.

He stressed that according to its characteristics, the S-500 exceeds all similar air defence systems that have been created or are being created in developed countries.

According to Sozinov, the system comprises a large number of various target detection and interception tools and ground-to-air guided missiles.

"This is a system that accomplishes a wide range of tasks for both air defence and missile defence purposes," he emphasized.