Russia is planning to roll out a new high-tech electronic warfare system capable of remotely disabling cruise missiles and other high-precision weaponry, according to the head of KRET, a subsidiary of state corporation Rostec and leading producer of military hardware.
KRET Deputy CEO Yuri Mikheyev told Russia's TASS news agency on Thursday that the system will jam the enemy aviation, including carrier-launched, tactical, long-range and strategic aircraft. The system will also jam the signals of foreign military satellites.
"It will fully suppress communications, navigation and target location and the use of high-precision weapons," Mikheyev said, according to TASS, adding that the system will be mounted on ground-based, airborne and seaborne carriers and operate within Russia's air defense and missile shield control unit.
"The system will be used against cruise missiles and will suppress satellite-based radio location systems. It will actually switch off enemy weapons."
Maevsky said that while the system will target enemy satellites, no space-based variant is planned because that would violate international treaties.
He said the system is expected to be ready for ground testing by the end of the year, TASS reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that his country needs a powerful military to deter threats near its borders. A "powerful army equipped with modern weapons is the guarantor of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia," Putin said at a meeting with graduates of Russian military academies, the Associated Press reported.
He promised to continue to modernize Russia's military and procure large numbers of new weapons. Recent reports suggest that Russia is expected to triple its production of missiles in 2015, according to the International Business Times.
Putin insisted that Russia does not intend to be aggressive, but rather hopes to "settle any disputes exclusively by political means with respect to international law and interests of other nations."
Relations with the West have degraded significantly following Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and its alleged involvement in eastern Ukraine, where it is believed to be supplying troops and weapons to pro-Russian rebels fighting against the Ukrainian government.
NATO announced on Wednesday that it will triple the capacity of its European rapid response force to 40,000 troops in order to adapt to the more challenging security environment, CNN reported. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Tuesday that the U.S. military will also send more heavy weaponry, including tanks, self-propelled howitzers and Bradley armored fighting vehicles, to six European nations: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania.
