Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
February 2, 2007 Friday
IS GABALA RADAR WORKING FOR ARMENIA?
by: Grigori Alexandrjan
SPECULATIONS THAT THE GABALA RADAR IS WORKING FOR ARMENIA ARE
ELEMENTS OF THE CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED TO CLOSE THE INSTALLATION; Official
Baku has reasons to want the Russians out.
The matter concerns the Darjal-type radar in the environs of Gabala
leased to Russia, the installation of the missile attack early
warning system. Speculations on how it is allegedly working for
Armenia began in Azerbaijan, clearly fomented by Baku’s intention to
exact revenge and up the rent in Moscow is paying off.
Here is a quote from theoretizations by Arif Yunusov, the head of the
Department of Conflict Studies of the Institute of Peace and
Democracy in Baku, "Suppose the hostilities between Azerbaijan and
Armenia break out again. It goes without saying that the Gabala radar
will keep track of everything. Where are the guarantees that
information, say, on movements of Azerbaijani military hardware, is
not imparted to the Armenians? Have we given shelter to a spy working
for our enemies? Members of the CIS Collective Security Treaty,
Russia and Armenia are supposed to share military information with
each other." Yunusov is convinced in other words that the Gabala
installation does not promote the interests of Azerbaijan in the
least. It is only working for Russia and, partially, for Armenia. The
political scientist therefore maintains that Azerbaijan should rid
itself of the radar data which may already be in the hands of the
Armenians.
The Gabala radar was originally built to detect ICBMs launched in the
Southern Hemisphere (launches by USSNs in the Indian Ocean included)
and to keep an eye on the southern hemisphere of outer space. It can
and does monitors airspace above the territories of Iran, Turkey,
India, Iraq, Pakistan, part of China, and some African countries.
Being an undeniably strategic tool, what kind of information can the
radar provide Armenia with? Yunusov fears that the matter concerns
movement of Azerbaijani military hardware. Isn’t that amusing? As
though it takes such a powerful radar to guess the destination of
such equipment.
There must be something else then, something Yunusov deliberately
omits. Azerbaijan with its pro-Western orientation is supposed to
tell the Americans sooner or later if it intends to allow them to
install their own military bases on its territory. And if it does
(which this correspondent, at least, has no doubts of), then the
campaign to close the Gabala radar will only gain momentum. The
principal agreement to sign documents on deploying a mobile American
contingent in Azerbaijan was reached during US Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld’s visit to Baku in 2004.
AF General Charles Wald, US Commander in Europe, had spared neither
time nor effort to brainwash the Azerbaijani leadership before the
visit of his superior to Baku. American specialists examined
Azerbaijani airfields in Kjurdamir, Nasosny, and Gala. Kjurdamir
runways were repaired and the cantonment nearby was upgraded to NATO
standards. The Americans even planned to set up mobile TRML-3D radars
with the range of 200 kilometers near the settlement of Sanchagaly on
the coast. It goes without saying that the Gabala radar run by the
Russians is the last thing these objects needs close by. It means
that Armenia does not really have to do anything with Baku’s true
motives of wanting the Russians out.
Source: Novoye Vremya (Yerevan), January 30, 2007, EV
Translated by A. Ignatkin
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
