Russia to beef up missile shield around Moscow
17 Jul 2007, 0337 hrs IST,AGENCIES
MOSCOW: Russia will beef up its missile defence by deploying the long-delayed S-400 Triumph missile system around Moscow later this month, an air force spokesman said Monday.
"One division and a command point will be put into combat duty at the end of the month," air force spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky said, news agency Interfax reported. Russia successfully tested S-400 missiles, also known by their NATO designation SA-21 Growler, last week, immediately before the Kremlin announced its withdrawal from a key European arms control treaty.
The missiles, which were first to be deployed in 2001, are designed to shoot down medium-range ballistic missiles and aircraft from as far away as 400 kilometres, twice as far as the US Patriot missile. Russia and the United States are locked in a heated dispute over missile defence, with Moscow accusing Washington of provoking a "new arms race" with its plans to deploy a missile shield in central Europe.
Russia says the system is a clear threat to Russian security, while Washington insists the system is not aimed at Russia but against potential missile threats from countries such as Iran and North Korea.
The Kremlin said on Saturday that Russia was withdrawing from the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, which limits the deployment of arms in Europe.
Meanwhile, Russia has notified Nato that it will suspend its application of a key Soviet-era arms treaty from December 12 and the military alliance is weighing its response, a Nato diplomat said on Monday.
"Moscow has sent a quite tough memorandum... on the reasons that led it to suspend the treaty and which sets the date from which it will apply as December 12," the diplomat said.
"The Russians confirmed that, from that date, they will not allow any more inspections foreseen under the treaty but they are not saying either that they will pull out altogether."
Russia to beef up missile shield around Moscow
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