Russia Will Put More Radars in the Arctic Amid Concern about NATO Activities There

Jan. 21, 2020 (EIRNS)—Russia has taken a decision to increase its radar coverage of the Arctic with not just ordinary radar but with an advanced radar said to be capable of tracking hypersonic vehicles and stealth aircraft. The Russian Defense Ministry has already ordered five sets of the radar at issue, called the Rezonans-N, three of which have been installed in Russia’s far north, but a source told TASS yesterday that the ministry has decided to order five more. After all the ten radars are deployed in the Russian Arctic, the “northeastern missile-dangerous area will be fully covered by the ‘hunters’ for hypersonic targets,” the source added.

The Defense Ministry’s radar plans come as Russian diplomats are expressing concern about NATO’s increasing activities in the Arctic. “Of course, we are alarmed by the increasing activity of the North Atlantic alliance in the Arctic. We are saying this to our partners and to the global public honestly and frankly,” Russian envoy to the Arctic Council Nikolai Korchunov told journalists on Jan. 20, reported TASS. “The growing activity of non-Arctic NATO member countries in the Arctic is of special concern to us,” he replied to a reporter’s question.

“We are facing a new phenomenon, when non-Arctic countries in NATO adopt their military Arctic strategies or issue reports and other strategic documents which justify the expediency of their military presence in polar latitudes,” Korchunov went on to say. “This undermines efforts to preserve the Arctic region as a zone of peace, stability and constructive cooperation.”