The Anti-Aircraft Missile Troops (zenitnyye raketnyye voyska, ZRV) are the surface-to-air missile units that man the layered defence from § 5.2. They provide the actual fire against aircraft, cruise missiles and — with the S-400/S-500 — ballistic and hypersonic targets.
Command
A SAM brigade is controlled via the Polyana-D4M1 system, which receives tracks from the RTV and distributes targets across the subordinate battalions (diviziony). Several brigades are coordinated at sector level via Baikal-1ME. This way layers (S-400 long, Pantsir short) can overlap without getting in each other's way.
Unit structure
| Echelon | Russian | Composition |
|---|---|---|
| SAM brigade / regiment | ZRBr / ZRP | 2–4+ battalions + brigade command post (Polyana) + acquisition radar |
| Fire battalion | divizion (zrdn) | The basic fire unit: fire-control radar + several launchers |
| Battery | batareya | Group of launchers within the divizion |
| Crew / launcher | raschot | TEL/TELAR with missiles |
An S-400 regiment usually consists of two diviziony, each with a fire-control radar (92N6) and several launchers; the brigade adds an acquisition radar (91N6) and the Polyana command post. Short-range systems such as Pantsir are often added to the SAM sites for self-protection.
The divizion is the key: it is the autonomous fire unit that is usually meant in practice. "An S-400 system" that is destroyed usually means knocking out one or a few launchers or the radar of a divizion — not the whole brigade.