Moscow, Russia: Russia's Armed Forces will begin using new-generation command and communications systems by 2015, a first deputy prime minister said Wednesday. Sergei Ivanov, who supervises the defense industry, spoke Wednesday at a session of the defense industry commission, held at the Semenikhin Scientific Research Institute, which specializes in automatic equipment development.
“In line with a state armaments program for 2007-2015, we have planned the outfitting of Army and Navy units with new command and communications systems,” he said.
The former defense minister said the plans were drafted in 2002, when the Defense Ministry pressed for the need to modernize communications systems, particularly for battlefield operations.
Ivanov stressed the importance of information technology as an effective military tool, already widely used by a number of countries.
Integration into a single telecommunications environment is one of the main directions of the Armed Forces.
Russia is developing a global satellite navigation system, Glonass, a Russian version of the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), which is designed for both military and civilian use, and allows users to identify their positions in real time.
A total of 9.88 billion rubles ($379.7 million) have been allocated for Glonass from the federal budget in 2007, and 4.72 billion ($181.4 million) in 2006. The system is to become fully operational by 2008.
