The S-300 anti-aircraft missile defense system is capable of shooting down aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missile warheads at ranges of over 90 miles and at altitudes of about 90,000 feet. Russian military officials boast that its capabilities outstrip the U.S. Patriot missile system.
The S-300 is an improvement over the Tor-M1 air defense missile system. Russia delivered 29 Tor-M1s to Iran this year under a $700 million contract signed in December 2005.
Those Russian salesmen are apparently pretty good. Russian-made (and their Soviet ancestor's) air defense systems keep getting trashed by Western air forces. So I really don't worry too much that Iran will buy these missiles. It will take a couple years at least for them to be integrated into Iran's air defenses, I imagine. And we have many weapons to exploit weak points in their defenses and take out the missiles.
Our enemies don't learn, it seems. When our enemies buy stuff like this, they play to our strong suit. If it comes to a fight, we will take apart Iran's air defenses and rip apart anything that can be seen, moves, or emits any signal. The S-300s will simply be some of the more expensive wreckage on the battlefield.
