Russian, U.S. Missile Defense Technologies Compatible - Expert
MOSCOW. April 5 (Interfax) - Russian and American missile defense technologies are fully compatible and so Russian technology can be used building a proposed European missile defense, according to a former senior Russian defense official.
"In the period from 2003 to 2008, we carried out several computer exercises in the format of the Russia-NATO Council in which we specifically studied aspects of compatibility of our means of early warning and interception. The conclusion was that they are compatible. There are no technical problems of compatibility. There is the problem of willingness to combine them," Lt. Gen. Yevgeny Buzhinsky, a former senior figure in the Defense Ministry's international relations department and today a consultant at PIR Center (the Russian Center for Policy Studies), said in an interview published in Tuesday's issue of Russian business daily Kommersant.
"We have no confidence in them, and they have no confidence in us. Before this shortfall is filled, it will be impossible to speak of any serious project," he said.
Buzhinsky said joining forces with NATO in building a European missile defense would enhance Russia's early missile warning resources.
Moreover, "such a project would make us full-scale partners if not allies," he said. "It means joint guarantees of security, and that is serious. We have had no such project yet."
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