Kazakhstan and Russia to establish a joint regional air defense shield 1505141

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Defence & Security News - Kazakhstan
 
 
Thursday, May 15, 2014 10:42 AM
 
Kazakhstan and Russia to establish a joint regional air defense shield.
Kazakhstan’s upper house of parliament ratified Thursday, May 15, 2014, an agreement with Russia on establishing a joint regional air defense shield, a Novosti-Kazakhstan correspondent has reported. The shield will become part of the unified air defense system of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a loose alliance of former Soviet states, comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
     
Kazakhstan’s upper house of parliament ratified Thursday, May 15, 2014, an agreement with Russia on establishing a joint regional air defense shield, a Novosti-Kazakhstan correspondent has reported. The shield will become part of the unified air defense system of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a loose alliance of former Soviet states, comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
A battery of S-300 long-range air defense system
     

“The forces of the unified regional air defense system of Kazakhstan and Russia are led by a commander appointed by the Kazakh and Russian presidents upon the recommendation of defense ministers from both sides,” a committee on international affairs, defense and security said in a report.

The planned shield would be used only in times of war, while in time of peace the respective agencies together with the commander will fulfill only routine duties, a report says.

Moscow signed an agreement to set up an integrated regional air defense network with Kazakhstan last year. Russia has such a network with Belarus, while a similar deal with Armenia has been in the works for some time.

In February 2014, the Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov has announced the delivery of five battalions of Russian-made air defense missile system S-300 to Kazakhstan.

Previously, it was also reported that the delivery of S-300 will be made in Kazakhstan under the agreement about the establishment of a unified regional air defense zone . The agreement was signed by Moscow and Astana in January 2013.

The S-300 (NATO reporting name SA-10 Grumble) is a series of Russian-made long range surface-to-air missile systems produced by NPO Almaz.

The latest variant, the S-300PMU2 Favorit can engage targets flying from 10 m to 27 km above the surface at a speed of up to 10,000 km/h. It is claimed that it has a kill ratio ranging from 0.8 to 0.93 against aircraft and from 0.8 to 0.98 against Tomahawk-class cruise missiles.