MOSCOW, February 28 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s aerospace defense network will consist of four subdivisions after 2015, a spokesman for the Aerospace Defense Forces (VKO) said Friday.
According to Major General Sergei Yagolnikov, the aerospace defenses will include a space- and ground-based intelligence-gathering and missile early warning network, an air and space defense command, a VKO command-and-control structure, and a logistics support branch.
The VKO was formed in 2011 to replace the Space Forces. It currently comprises the Space Command, the Air and Space Defense Command, and the Plesetsk space center, which is responsible for testing and launching carrier rockets with satellites.
Yagolnikov said that about a hundred research-and-development projects for new VKO weaponry were under way in Russia.
Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said Friday that the military will invest 2 trillion rubles ($55.3 billion) in building up its aerospace defense weapons over the next six years to ensure they are capable of thwarting existing and future types of air and space attacks.
