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Russian Space Troops Focus on Dual-Use Spacecraft

Posted on: Tuesday, 15 April 2003, 06:00 CDT

Moscow, 15 April -- The Space Troops plan to increase the percentage of dual-use spacecraft in the Russian orbital group, Lt- Col Vyacheslav Davidenko, chief of the press service of the Space Troops, told Interfax-Military News Agency Tuesday [15 April].

"The command of the Space Troops considers the development of so- called dual-use spacecraft a priority, for these devices work for both military and civilian authorities. This is a world trend. Experts estimate the possible share of dual-use spacecraft in the next three to four years as up to half the national orbital group," he said.

According to him, the current national orbital group includes about 100 spacecraft.

"According to Commander of the Space Troops Col-Gen Anatoliy Perminov, the deterioration of the number and quality of Russian active spacecraft was stopped in 2001-02," Davidenko said. The Russian group has decreased from 186 to 97 active spacecraft, while the US group has increased from 201 to 418 since 1993.

Davidenko said that the command of the Space Troops planned to "fully recover" the orbital groups of communication, surveillance and missile attack warning spacecraft by the end of 2003. The year of 2004 would see the restoration of the GLONASS satellite navigation system comprising 24 spacecraft.

According to the press service chief, currently Russia has more than 20 types of active spacecraft with a service life of not more than three years.

"Most of these spacecraft were designed in the 1970s-1980s. They have short service lives - from 180 days to three years - and an obsolete element base," he said.

He recalled what President Vladimir Putin had said when examining the HQ and the command post of the Space Troops, "Our efforts in this field will focus on stepping up to a new generation of longer- life spacecraft."

The state armament programme stipulates that the number of types of spacecraft be halved and their service lives be extended to 5-10 years, Davidenko added.

"The command of the Space Troops says this could reduce the design, operation and launch costs two to three times. Fewer launches alone will save up to R1bn (32m dollars)," he emphasized.

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BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union - Political

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