Just a few days ago it became known that the military and political leadership of our country is considering issues related to the creation of new missile defense systems. Almost simultaneously with the corresponding message from the press service of the presidential administration, new information appeared, allegedly related to the details of new projects. If the information published in the media turns out to be true, then over the next few years, Russia's strategic missile defense system will significantly increase its capabilities.
The first reports of some work to improve the Russian missile defense appeared in the twentieth of April. Then Deputy Defense Minister Colonel-General O. Ostapenko said that in the near future the missile defense system of Moscow and the central industrial region will be modernized. In addition, in addition to updating various components of the system, it is possible to introduce new modern elements with higher characteristics. Also, in the course of the program for updating missile defense systems, new radar stations for warning about missile attack will be put into operation. According to Ostapenko, an ideology has already been worked out and the sequence of commissioning such facilities has been worked out.
Unfortunately, the Deputy Defense Minister did not disclose any details regarding the technical side of the upcoming update. Therefore, in order to complete the existing picture, you will have to recall his last year's words. In December 2012, Colonel-General Ostapenko spoke about the development of some new anti-missile systems that in the future will protect not only the capital region, but also some other regions of the country. Even more interesting are the words of the Deputy Minister regarding the timing of implementation. As Ostapenko said, new developments are quickly implemented and therefore, probably, they can be announced in the near future. Six months have passed since then, but there are no new full-fledged messages yet. Perhaps the projects are not yet ready or have already been completed, but it is too early to publish information about them.
It also cannot be ruled out that one of the results of the work that Colonel-General Ostapenko spoke about last year was the messages received last Tuesday. As it became known, on May 14, a meeting was held with the participation of Russian President V. Putin, Defense Minister S. Shoigu, Chief of the General Staff V. Gerasimov and a number of other high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defense, during which the creation of new missile defense systems was discussed. All the details of this discussion remained behind closed doors, so one can only guess what exactly government officials and military commanders were talking about.
A few hours before the start of the meeting (!), The first reports on the future of Russian missile defense appeared on the Izvestia newspaper website. With reference to a representative of the headquarters of the aerospace defense forces, the publication published some information that may relate to current work in the anti-missile field. An anonymous source of Izvestia said that in the near future our country will have a unified anti-missile defense system based on digital technologies and combining existing anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons. The basis of this unified air defense and missile defense system will be a new automated control system (ACS) developed by the Almaz-Antey concern.
The latest digital ACS will link all command posts and batteries of air and missile defense systems. The architecture of this control system will make it possible to integrate into it new anti-aircraft or anti-missile systems, radar stations, etc., entering service without any special difficulties. For example, according to a source at the headquarters of the VKO troops, in the near future it will be possible to connect the latest S-500 anti-aircraft missile systems to a single automated control system. It is assumed that information from all detection equipment will be transmitted to a single command post of the aerospace defense area. Moreover, the point will be able to receive data not only from radar stations of anti-aircraft complexes, but also from early-warning aircraft or from space reconnaissance equipment.
The Izvestia source claims that the latest broadband communication system, which became known a few days earlier, will be used for data transmission. It is reported that the new communication complex provides wireless data transmission over a secure channel at a speed of up to 300 Mbps. According to the newspaper, the new communication system is based on WiMAX technology and operates at frequencies of about 2 gigahertz. The tests of the new complex will take place next summer at one of the proving grounds near Moscow. Details of its integration into the air and missile defense command and control system were not disclosed.
If sources in various departments of the Ministry of Defense shared true information, then the situation with the development of domestic anti-missile systems is gradually beginning to acquire a positive character. New missile defense systems are being created, as well as auxiliary means, without which they will not be able to fully perform their functions. In the current conditions, as well as in the light of possible future threats, the development of aerospace defense in general acquires a special priority. For obvious reasons, the details of the progress of all projects in this direction have not yet been disclosed, but even the available information suggests that the work is really going on. So last year's promises of Colonel-General O. Ostapenko regarding the speedy official announcement of a certain new development look quite real. You just have to wait.
