A new radar station capable of monitoring missile launches from the North Atlantic, as well as the future European missile defense system, was put into operation in Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad on Tuesday.
President Dmitry Medvedev observed its inauguration ceremony during his visit to the city.
“I hope this station will operate well and fulfill the tasks assigned to it hand,” Medvedev told the station team.
The radar is able to monitor simultaneously up to 500 targets at a distance of up to 6,000 kilometers, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said.
As of December 1, the station will officially become part of the national missile early warning system.
In addition, Iskander tactical missiles will be deployed in the Kaliningrad region “in the near future,” military officials said.
Russia’s air defense system will have the capability to intercept any type of missiles, any targets at any speed, including hypersonic ones.
The new system, comprising air defense, missile defense, missile early warning attack and space control systems, should be up and running by Thursday.
Medvedev said last week Russia would move “advanced offensive weapon systems” to its European borders in response to a planned U.S.-backed NATO missile shield if talks on the project fail.
Moscow is seeking written, legally binding guarantees that the shield will not be directed against it. Washington, however, has refused to put its verbal assurances in writing.
Russia’s view of European missile shield