EX-SOVIET STATES TO SET UP 3 JOINT REGIONAL AIR DEFENSE NETWORKS
RIA Novosti
September 16, 2009
ASTRAKHAN (South Russia)
ASTRAKHAN (South Russia), September 16 (RIA Novosti) – Several
members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are involved
in creating three joint regional air defense structures as part of
the CIS integrated air defense network.
Members of the Coordinating Committee on Air Defense under the CIS
Defense Ministers’ Council met in Astrakhan on Wednesday and discussed
setting up East European, Caucasus,
and Central Asian air defense networks.
The CIS integrated air defense network was set up by 10 CIS member
countries on February 10, 1995. The main purpose of the network is
to secure member-states’ airspace, including through early warning
of missile attacks and coordination of joint efforts to neutralize
potential aerial threats.
The network currently comprises 46 units equipped with S-200 and
S-300 air defense missile systems, 23 fighter units equipped with
MiG-29, MiG-31 and Su-27 aircraft, 22 electronic support units and
two electronic warfare detachments.
The East European network will be set up by Russia and Belarus in
line with an agreement signed in February on the joint protection
of the Russia-Belarus Union State’s airspace and the creation of an
integrated regional air defense network.
It will comprise five Air Force units, 10 anti-aircraft units, five
technical service and support units and one electronic warfare unit,
and will be placed under the command of a Russian or Belarusian Air
Force or Air Defense Force senior commander.
Belarus has several Russian-made S-300 air defense battalions on
combat duty, and has long been negotiating the purchase of advanced
S-400 systems from Russia, which should be available in 2010.
The Caucasus air defense network will be set up by Russia and
Armenia. The draft agreement is still in the works and needs additional
negotiations to ensure "clear principles of the deployment and command
of air defense forces."
"The draft document will be ready by the end of 2009," said
Col. Nikolai Babayan, chief of Armenia’s Air Defense Forces.
Unlike the East European and Central Asian commands, the airspace of
the Caucasus network will not be continuous as Georgia and Azerbaijan
separate Russia and Armenia.
Maj. Gen. Okas Saparov, deputy commander of Kazakhstan’s Air Defense
Forces, said that a working group has been formed to discuss setting
up a joint Central Asian regional air defense network, which will
involve Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
"Most of the issues dealing with drafting up an agreement [on a joint
air defense network] have been resolved," Saparov said.
Kazakhstan signed a contract with Russia in March on the purchase of
S-300 air defense missile systems, while Russia operates an airbase
in the city of Kant, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside the Kyrgyz
capital, Bishkek.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
