© Sputnik / Alexander GalperinFILE PHOTO: S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems during a drill
Russian anti-aircraft missile forces and radio-technical troops stationed in the Arctic are going through a comprehensive rearmament process, which will see Russia's most advanced long-range air defense missile system being delivered to them, Vice Admiral Alexander Moiseev, the commander of Russia's Northern Fleet, said on Sunday.
All Russian military units in the region are set to be equipped with S-400s "over the coming years," he noted. The build-up will protect the Russian part of the Arctic with what Moiseev called "a de facto anti-missile dome," effectively impenetrable for any type of weaponry, including enemy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles.
Russia has been boosting its military presence in the Arctic in recent years, building and repairing bases and airfields, as well as deploying its newest hardware and holding drills in response to increased military activity by Western nations in the resource-rich region, which has gained strategic importance due to its vast resources and geographic position.
The share of new technology and weaponry deployed with the Russian troops in the Arctic currently amounts to about 60 percent, Moiseev said.
In September, Russia deployed S-400 air defense systems to the Yuzhny Island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in northern Russia, further expanding the airspace under its control.
The space based weapons program will ensure billions in US tax payers dollars will continue to flow to the MIC. Will they have anything to show for it, ten years hence? I doubt it.
They could try bleed the Russian economy, by coercing Russia to invest in space based weapons. But the Russians have shown recently, that they can produce top of the range weapons, at a fraction of the cost.