FOUR EX-SOVIET REPUBLICS HOLD JOINT ANTI-TERROR AIR DEFENSE EXERCISES IN SOUTHERN RUSSIA
The Associated Press
08/30/05 07:14 EDT
1/4tMOSCOW (AP) – Four ex-Soviet republics held joint anti-terror
air defense exercises in southern Russia on Tuesday, news agencies
reported. 1/4tMore than 40 aircraft and 2,000 personnel from Russia,
Armenia, Belarus and Tajikistan were expected to take part in the
maneuvers near the southern Russian city of Astrakhan, the ITAR-Tass
news agency reported, citing Gen. Vladimir Mikhailov, commander of the
Russian Air Force. 1/4tThey will practice counter-terrorist attacks
and maneuvers, ITAR-Tass said. 1/4tRussian Defense Minister Sergei
Ivanov, attending the exercises, said that Russia had recently agreed
to deliver S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Belarus, news reports
said. The S-300 series can be used against airplanes, cruise missiles
and ballistic missiles, at a maximum range of about 90 kilometers
(55 miles). 1/4tIvanov also said Russia continued to be in favor of
creating a pan-European missile defense system, report said. 1/4tRussia
first raised the idea of a European missile defense system in 2000
amid the dispute over the United States’ intention to abandon the
Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty. However, the proposal attracted little
interest. 1/4tThe proposal did not foresee establishing a unified
system per se, but as a mechanism for coordinating the missile defense
commands of various countries.