Russia boosts missile defenses in Asia

ULAN BATOR, Mongolia, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Russia says it is beefing up its air defenses in Asia in response to North Korean missile tests.

Advanced S-400 Triumf air-defense systems have been deployed by Moscow to guard Russian territory against the possibility one of North Korea's missiles could go off course.

"We have already deployed a battalion of the S-400 systems in Russia's Far East in order to guarantee protection from failed launches and to ensure that the fragments of these missiles never fall on Russian territory," Gen. Nikolai Makarov said Wednesday at a news conference in the Mongolian capital Ulan Bator.

The RIA Novosti news agency said Wednesday that an S-400 battalion consists of eight launchers.

The S-400 is modeled after the U.S. Patriot anti-missile system. Known in the west as the SA-21 Growler, it has a range of about 250 miles and has been stationed around Moscow and other western cities.