Putin: Russia launching new air defense program*

Reuters
Saturday, August 11, 2007; 12:05 PM

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday a
new radar station near St. Petersburg was the first stage in a
large-scale air defense program, Russian agencies reported.

"This is the first step in a large-scale program in this sphere that
will be carried out to 2015," Putin was quoted as saying during a visit
to St. Petersburg. He did not elaborate.

It was the first public announcement of such a program. Russia has said
it will beef up its air defense system in response to the United
States's initiative to station elements of a missile shield near
Russia's borders.

The Voronezh-type radar station in the village of Lekhtusi about 50 km
(30 miles) north of St. Petersburg has been operational since December
2006 and can monitor the territory between the North Pole and Africa.

"This is what I call modern development of armed forces. A lot more
effective, a lot more reliable," Putin was quoted as saying.

The United States wants to base interceptor missiles and a radar system
in Poland and the Czech Republic, saying it needs protection against
missile attacks from "rogue states" like Iran and North Korea.

Russia has reacted furiously, saying the plan will upset a delicate
strategic balance and that the missile shield is against Russia, not
"rogue states." It has threatened to target its own missiles at Europe,
prompting talk of a new Cold War.

Putin has proposed Washington drop the idea, offering in return that the
U.S. military use a Voronezh-type station under construction in southern
Russia and a centre in Moscow to share data on attacks. The United
States has reacted cautiously.