MOSCOW, June 23. /TASS/: Washington is actively building up the Pacific segment of the US global missile shield and strengthening cooperation with Tokyo, Chief of the Russian General Staff’s Main Department Admiral Igor Kostyukov said at the Moscow Conference on International Security on Wednesday.
"Washington is actively building up the Pacific segment of the US global ballistic missile defense system," the Russian defense official said.
The US Navy has started arming guided missile destroyers with the latest Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) Mk IIA interceptors capable of intercepting ballistic targets at a distance of up to 1,000 kilometers, the admiral said.
"By 2030, there are plans to boost the group of naval ships coping with ballistic missile defense tasks in the Asia-Pacific region from 23 to 40, THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) anti-missile batteries from 2 to 3 and Patriot PAC-3 batteries from 12 to 16. Besides, an Aegis Ashore battery with an ammunition load of 24 Standard missile interceptors is set to be deployed," Kostyukov said.
"Within the framework of this activity, Washington is stepping up cooperation with Tokyo, which is rapidly creating its own ballistic missile defense system technically and operationally compatible with the Pacific segment of the US global missile shield," the Russian defense official said.
