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On Earth, in the atmosphere,
and beyond
Russia’s Space Troops are in for a major
reshuffle soon. Following a decision by President
Dmitry Medvedev, the combined Aerospace Defense
Force (ADF) is to be established under a single
command by December 1, 2011.
In addition to the Space Troops, the ADF will
also comprise forces and contingents that have
been shuffled around organizationally for decades
because their unique character or because the
scale of their missions have defied all efforts
to design a common framework.
The new ADF Command will exercise operational
guidance over the Air Force's defense units –
which have already been officially renamed "ADF
brigades – the Combined Strategic Command
of Aerospace Defense and the former Air Force
Special-Purpose Command, or, in simpler terms,
Moscow's air and missile defenses. The ADF will
also manage the Missile Attack Warning and Space
Surveillance systems.
The resulting organization will then have enough
authority to operate both within the Earth's atmosphere
and beyond it.
This in-depth defense system will handle both
radar and optical observation facilities and all
types of surface-to-air missiles designed to attack
air targets (from smaller to long-range heavy
missiles), as well as atmospheric and exo-atmospheric
anti-missiles.
Hardware shapes reform
The original idea was to put all aerospace defense
forces under the Space Troops. Now the situation
has changed slightly: all weapons and armaments
are being left in their fighting branches, but
their control will be handed over to a single
center.
And this center will be the ADF Combined Strategic
Command. A separate Space Command will be set
up within it, according to Space Troops Commander
Oleg Ostapenko. This somewhat differs from the
statements made early in 2011 that ADF forces
would be based on the space troops.
It is as yet difficult to assess the prospects
that will result from the latest changes. In principle,
the command of Moscow's ADF area (or whatever
it has been called over the long years of its
existence) is the only military structure among
the future components of the country's ADF that
has many years' experience in operating diverse
combat and information-gathering facilities, which,
moreover, are on constant combat alert. Their
inventory is wide and varied: A-135 anti-missile
systems, surface-to-air missile units, interceptor-fighter
regiments, radar units of all kinds, and single
control and command centers.
Military Space Forces
must have their own niche
It looks like the ADF is going to be based on
Moscow's air and missile defense area command.
But the Space Troops also have missions not directly
related to aerospace defense.
The Space Troops were created in 2001 and combined
such disparate components as the Military Space
Force and the Space Missile Defense and Missile
Attack Warning systems.
In 1992, Russia set up a separate Military Space
Force, removing all centers and units concerned
with military space launches from the Strategic
Missile Troops.
But in December 1997, Marshal Igor Sergeyev (missileman),
the new defense minister, put the Military Space
Force back under the Strategic Missile Troops.In
2001, the Military Space Force was again taken
away from the Strategic Missile Troops to serve
as the basis for the Space Troops. It also included
the Missile Attack Warning and Space Surveillance
systems and air defenses, which, it now appears,
are to be put operationally under the ADF Combined
Command.
Time will tell if moving the Military Space Force
around again has been productive. What is clear
is that in forming the ADF, priority must be given
to the military infrastructure of space launches
and to testing centers.
Although these things are not related to the
immediate objectives of air and missile defenses,
their operation is essential to the country's
armed forces and not just to the ADF or the Strategic
Missile Troops. One of the goals in reforming
the Space Troops is to avoid the possible infringement
of military space interests because of constantly
changing subordination.
When will we celebrate
again?
One question remains: when will we mark Aerospace
Defense Day next time?
The Air Defense troops celebrate their professional
holiday early in April, and the Space Missile
Defense troops, on March 30. Both dates are connected
with government resolutions on air and missile
defense.
Since 2002, the Space Troops, which are to provide
the core of the ADF, have been celebrating their
day on October 4 - the anniversary of launching
the first artificial satellite orbiting Earth,
a symbol understood both in Russia and abroad.
Incidentally, the October 4 holiday as Command
and Measurement Complex Day has been celebrated
since 1960.
Selecting a date for ADF day won't be a simple
matter. Taking the path of least resistance, it
could be either December 1 or some other date
connected with the publication of an official
document.
Or we could turn to March 4. On that day in 1961,
for the first time in the world, a ballistic missile
warhead was successfully intercepted over the
Kazakh testing range Sary-Shagan. For the future
Aerospace Defense Forces, such a date could be
a natural and enduring symbol.
The author is RIA Novosti
military affairs columnist.
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