"We expect some 48-49 US warships to be converted by 2020 as part of Washington’s global missile shield program,” Colonel Oleg Pyshny, who heads a department at the 4th Central Scientific Research Institute of the Russian Defense Ministry, told reporters in Moscow.
The overall number of interceptor missiles installed onboard US ships equipped with air defense systems may exceed 200 by 2020, he added.
The US missile defense buildup poses certain threats “both to the maritime component of the Russian strategic nuclear forces, but Russia will take adequate response steps to offset these threats,” Colonel Pyshny emphasized.
