Updated 2:53 p.m. Moscow time
MOSCOW, October 10 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Defense Ministry plans to finish the construction of several new anti-missile radars within five years to cover the entire Russian territory, a senior defense official said Friday.
The Voronezh-DM radar in Siberia’s Irkutsk Region completed state trials on September 30.
“Within the next five years we plan to produce and put into service similar stations at other designated locations, covering the entire Russian territory with a continuous radar field,” Col. Oleg Stepanov said.
According to previous reports, new radar stations of the Voronezh class will be located in east Siberia's Krasnoyarsk Territory, in south Siberia’s Altai Republic and in the Orenburg region in south Urals.
Radar stations are the key elements of the missile attack early warning system. In October 2012, Col. Gen. Oleg Ostapenko, who was the commander of the Aerospace Defense Forces at that time, said that the construction and renovation of the missile attack warning system is scheduled for completion before the appointed time - until 2020.
In June 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that Russia will launch seven new radars stations until 2018.
