Ekspress, Baku, in Azeri
27 Sep 05 p 10
RUSSIA OPPOSED TO US RADARS IN AZERBAIJAN – EXPERT
by Hasan Agacan’s headlined “The Caucasus is covered by radars”
One of the “two radar stations in Azerbaijan”, which US ambassador
Reno Harnish spoke about in an interview with AFP and which our
newspaper reported last Friday [23 September], is very sophisticated.
The other is a normal one.
In the post-Soviet area, one AN/FPS-117 radar station has been
installed near the Latvian city of Daugavpils. That radar station
allows NATO to monitor the northern Baltic region, as well as
Ukraine, Belarus and the central regions of Russia.
Military expert Murad Verdiyev says that AN/FPS-117 radar stations
make it possible to detect air targets from quite a long distance,
calculate their distance, azimuth and altitude by means of active
radiolocation.
[Passage omitted: more details about the capabilities of the radar
station ]
The radar stations, which will be installed in [Azerbaijan’s
northern] Xizi and [southern] Astara districts, will make it possible
to monitor Georgia, Armenia, the North Caucasus, northern Iran, the
Caspian basin, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and the western regions of
Uzbekistan.
[Passage omitted: more details about the capabilities of the radar
station ]
US servicemen make up 65% of the main and technical staff of the
radar station in Astara District. The US plans to install radar
stations in Azerbaijan go back to 2001. In 2001, Qatar’s Al-Jazeera
TV station quoted the Jerusalem-based Palestinian information centre
as saying that “the USA is deploying radar stations in regions of
Azerbaijan bordering on Iran. To this end, Baku has even allocated
plots of land to the Americans”.
[Passage omitted: Hezbollah was angry with the Azerbaijani government
for hosting US radar stations]
The radar station in Xizi District has not been put into operation
yet. After the station begins to operate, the implementation of the
Caspian security programme drafted by the headquarters of the US
military command in Europe will get under way.
[Passage omitted: details of the programme]
As for the radar station, which is due to be put into operation in
Xizi District in the next few days, it is a TRML-3D. The station
produced by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company is
capable of detecting aeroplanes and helicopters flying at a low
height at a distance of up to 200 kilometres, as well as radio
information and mobile phone conversations.
Marat Aliyev, an expert from the Eurasian Geostrategic Studies
Centre, says that the installation of radar stations in Azerbaijan is
a clear indication of plans to deploy NATO bases to Azerbaijan.
“NATO, namely the USA, have always installed radar systems in former
Soviet countries prior to deploying military bases there. After the
installation of these systems, military hardware, mobile units, air
defence systems and special purpose troops are brought to those
countries,” Aliyev said.
Aliyev says the Pentagon has planned to set up a regional air
surveillance and coordination centre in the South Caucasus region.
“The radar stations the USA is installing in Azerbaijan are more
powerful than the Qabala radar station. Russia understands this and
is very likely to take countermeasures,” he added.
According to a report we received yesterday, the Russian Defence
Ministry is really planning to do so. It is planning to install a
59N6-E Protivnik-GE radar station in one of Dagestan’s southern
districts.