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The U.S. rearmament program of cruise missiles poses a main threat to Russia's security as it would have the capability of launching a barrage of up to 7,000 missiles at the first-strike stage against Russia in 2015-2016, a senior Russian air defense designer said Monday.
About 5,000 of those cruise missiles will be launched from submarines, said Pavel Sozinov, chief designer of Russia's air and missile defense systems producer Almaz-Antei company.
The United States has been redesigning three Ohio-class nuclear submarines to arm them with cruise missiles instead of inter- continental ballistic missiles. Each of these submarines can carry up to 154 cruise missiles, he added.
"This is a huge potential of the first stage massive strike, which must be taken into account while building (Russian) anti- missile defense," as it could result in disastrous damage to Russian strategic nuclear force, Sozinov said at a scientific conference here.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in October that Russia will create a space-based ballistic missile warning system capable of detecting launches of inter-continental and tactical missiles, as part of the country's efforts to strengthen its national defense.
The space-based early warning system is expected to put into operation by 2020, or even earlier, Sozinov said, "to provide a constant warning of ballistic missile launches."
Meanwhile, Russia has also been developing its own missile defense systems similar to the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and long-range ballistic missile shield Ground- based Midcourse Defense, Sozinov said.
The move is aimed at further strengthening the capabilities of Russia's security system to identify targets at medium-and high- altitude missiles. Currently, their capabilities are limited to detecting enemy targets at low or very low altitudes, he said.
"A system analogous to THAAD is under development and will begin trials soon in Russia, allowing us to intercept medium-range ballistic missiles and intercontinental ones on a limited scale," RIA Novosti news agency quoted Sozinov as saying.
Significant progress has been made toward producing fuel for interceptor missiles and thermal barrier coatings that can withstand heat up to 3,500 degrees Celsius, the chief engineer added.
Also on Monday, Air Force Commander Viktor Bondarev said that at least five S-400 air defense missile regiments and more than 20 Pantsir-S air defense artillery and missile battalions would join Russian Aerospace Defense Forces, including fighter aircraft capable of destroying hypersonic and ballistic missiles such as SU- 35S.
In early September, President Vladimir Putin said that to keep up its containment potential, Russia needs to rearm its strategic and long-haul air forces and complete the establishment of airspace defense, especially the first-strike nuclear weaponry. Enditem
