Russian defence minister suggests European anti-aircraft system

RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTER SUGGESTS EUROPEAN ANTI-AIRCRAFT SYSTEM

RIA news agency, Moscow
30 Aug 05

Ashuluk testing range (Astrakhan Region), 30 August: It’s for the first
time that a single HQ was in command of a military exercise of the air
defence troops of CIS member countries, Russian Defence Minister Sergey
Ivanov said after the war games of the air defence troops of Russia,
Belarus, Armenia and Tajikistan ended at the Ashuluk testing range,
Astrakhan Region.

“These exercises have one distinguishing feature. Whereas before,
in 2001 and 2003, each state brought its own command post, now for
the first time a single HQ ran the exercise,” Ivanov said. “This is
a prototype of a unified group of CIS countries which can create a
single anti-aircraft system in any region,” the defence minister said.

The head of the Russian military department assessed positively the
exercise that had been held. “This is yet another stage of combat
preparations for a CIS single anti-aircraft system,” Ivanov said.

[ITAR-TASS at 0923gmt in Russian quoted Sergey Ivanov as saying that
Russia supported the creation of a European non-strategic antimissile
defence system. “If a political decision on this issue is taken, it
[Russia] is ready to make a great contribution to the creation of
this system, for instance by using its technologies”, Sergey Ivanov
said today after the Ashuluk exercise ended]