A Russian aerospace defense chief says Moscow will start large-scale production of new generation S-500 surface-to-air missile system by 2016.
"Our design bureau is working to complete the development of the S-500 system by 2015-2016," state-run RIA Novosti quoted Yury Solovyev, deputy general director of Moscow-based Almaz-Antey military company, as saying on Friday.

He said Almaz-Antey designers were working to resolve a number of problems, including the lack of reliable and efficient electronic components to be employed in the advanced anti-aircraft system.

The S-500 system will be able to track and destroy ballistic missiles with ranges of up to 600 kilometers (nearly 373 miles). It will be able to detect and simultaneously engage up to 10 ballistic supersonic targets, and will have a flight ceiling of 40 kilometers (over 28 miles).

The S-500 is expected to outperform Russian S-400 and American MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems.

During a meeting in Lisbon in late November 2010, Russia agreed to cooperate with NATO on a US-backed pan-European missile system. Russia's agreement with NATO raised eyebrows as Moscow had traditionally been fiercely opposed to the missile system.

However, Moscow called for a shared control of the system but Washington refuses to share the responsibility for protecting NATO member-states with a third party.