For many years now Russia has been trying to get a clear answer to its questions about the North Atlantic missile defense. But the United States and the European countries participating in this project still prefer excuses about the Iranian or, even worse, the North Korean threat (a good answer is where is North Korea and where is Europe). So Russia has every reason to believe that missile defense systems in Europe can be built against it as well.
The most obvious way out of the situation is to negotiate. However, this method seems to be deadlocked and will yield nothing. On September 13, the Russian Foreign Ministry again stated that negotiations with the United States and NATO are not yielding any results. Develop missiles that can penetrate the defense systems of a potential adversary? This is a self-evident decision. But missile defense in Europe can be answered "symmetrically", which Russia will do.
Not so long ago, in 2007, a new version of the Aegis Combat System ship complex was tested in the United States. The main innovation in its composition is the Standard-3 rocket RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 (SM-3). It can hit targets both at "standard" altitudes and in extra-atmospheric space. The updated Aegis system was first tested in practice on February 21, 2008, when the CG-70 Lake Erie was tasked with destroying the USA-193 emergency satellite. Despite the parameters of the satellite's flight (an orbital altitude of 247 km and a speed of over 27,000 km / h), the very first missile successfully hit the target and confirmed the effectiveness of the ship's missile defense systems.
It must be admitted that the development of the SM-3 rocket was accompanied by a mass of controversy about the advisability of installing strategic missile defense missiles on ships. But in the end, the supporters of the naval missile defense were able to convince the US military leadership that the ship has greater mobility than ground complexes and therefore, among other things, has a better chance of surviving a war and fulfilling its task.
Earlier, the Russian side had already announced that in response to the deployment of Euro-Atlantic missile defense systems in Eastern Europe, it would be forced (the necessity of such a step was emphasized) to deploy Iskander-M operational-tactical missile systems in the Kaliningrad region. And Pridnestrovie has shown its readiness to host the Iskanders, which will make it possible to “block” not only almost the entire territory of Poland, but also Romania, and part of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Now it has been announced that Russia intends to expand the range of its anti-missile systems. On September 22, a video conference "Euro-Atlantic missile defense system: a view from Russia and Ukraine" took place, at which Vladimir Kozin, deputy head of the press and information department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said: the country has begun developing a new sea-based missile defense system. Kozin added that all the nuances of international legislation have already been tested and the system will not contradict them in any way.
Probably, the success of the latest generation Aegis system pushed the Russian military to such a decision. In addition, Washington has already spoken about its plans to deploy its missile defense ships in the Mediterranean or even in the Black Sea. The option of patrolling several northern seas is also being considered. Perhaps, it is enough just to look at the map of the world and doubts will already appear: will the interceptor missiles be used against Iran or the DPRK? In addition, these countries do not yet have intercontinental missiles that could pose a serious threat to at least Europe. But there are already means of countering these missiles. Of course, there are many who doubt the truth of the statements of the creators of the Euro-Atlantic missile defense system, and some political scientists even predict a new arms race, only this time exclusively in the field of missiles and missile defense.
Kozin substantiated the need to create a sea-based missile defense system, among other things, by the fact that all negotiations on the Euro-Atlantic system are leading nowhere. There were even proposals for Russia's participation in this program, but they remained just proposals. Moreover, Russia has not yet received even guarantees about the possible use of the system against it. And this is, at the very least, suspicious. In this case, says Kozin, until we have received all the information we need about the purpose, composition and prospects of the Euro-Atlantic missile defense system, Russia will be forced to build its defenses at its own discretion. Even if her plans do not agree with others. But you still have to build your own system.
What is abroad?
In the former socialist bloc, one agreement after another is signed. In September of this year, Poland first agreed with the United States to install interceptor missiles on its territory. A few days later, Romania also signed an agreement with America. It will house not only missiles, but also a detection radar and a control center for the Eastern European sector of the Euro-Atlantic missile defense system. The complete construction of systems in Poland and Romania should be completed by the end of the decade. At the same time, as already mentioned, both Polish and Romanian objects can fall into the "zone of responsibility" of the Iskander deployed near Kaliningrad or in Transnistria. But, fortunately for the Poles and Romanians, so far the Russian missiles are not aimed at the objects of the respective countries.
For several years now, the United States has been negotiating with Turkey on the deployment of radar and missiles on its territory. True, these negotiations are proceeding very slowly and fruitlessly. They are hindered by a number of politicians who believe that it is not worth helping the United States create a threat to friendly Muslim countries, for example, Iran. Also, the Turkish side is concerned about the possible transfer of data from their facilities to unfriendly states, primarily Israel. So, in the next year and a half, the negotiations between Turkey and the United States are unlikely to lead to any positive result for the latter. Russia is quite satisfied with this: the radar station planned for installation in Turkey may well observe not only the "unreliable countries", but also the North Caucasus region of Russia itself.
