The Russian Defense Ministry has signed contracts on the development and construction of satellites capable of detecting launches of ballistic missiles, First Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Sukhorukov said on Thursday.
The new missile early warning satellites will be part of a unified aerospace defense network being formed in Russia.
“Several military satellites will be launched this year,” Sukhorukov said.
Russia, which reportedly operates a constellation of 60 to 70 military satellites, is planning to launch at least 100 new military satellites in the next 10 years to boost its reconnaissance and missile detection capabilities.
The expansion of the military satellite cluster will also boost global positioning and mapping capabilities of the Russian military, which is necessary to guide advanced high-precision weapons being developed in Russia.
