ARMAVIR, June 6 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s two new antimissile radars – one in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad and the other in Siberia’s Irkutsk Region – will be launched in 2014, the Aerospace Defense Forces head said Thursday.
“Work is proceeding according to schedule; there are no delays or setbacks,” Maj. Gen. Alexander Golovko said following the activation of the latest Voronezh-DM class radar station in Armavir, southern Russia.
The Armavir radar monitors an area from France and Spain in the west, to Algeria in the southwest, Sudan in the south, and Iran, Afghanistan and parts of India and Pakistan in the southeast, according to the Russian military.
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia will put into operation seven advanced radar stations before 2018.
In mid-May Putin stressed the importance of building an integrated radar field for the Missile Attack Early Warning System [MAEWS].
According to the Aerospace Defense Forces press service, the MAEWS radar in Kaliningrad – Russia’s westernmost point – will monitor the space from the North Atlantic to North Africa, providing information on any ballistic missile launches in its area of responsibility. The radar has an effective range of up to 6,000 km.
Voronezh-DM class radars can be more quickly deployed to a new site and require a smaller crew to operate them compared to previous generation stations.
Russia’s other Voronezh-class radar is located at Lekhtusi outside St. Petersburg.
