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Russia Can Respond To US Weapons In Space: Deputy DM

Russia has adequate answer to possible US militarization of space

MOSCOW - Russian Deputy Defense Minister, head of the armaments department Vladimir Popovkin said Russia is capable of giving an
adequate effective answer to the possible militarization of space by
the United States.

"There is a more adequate answer to the possible deployment by the
USA of weapons in outer space; we do not have to deploy in space
expensive armaments for it," Popovkin said at a news briefing for
journalists on Wednesday.

The issue of deploying weapons in space is quite philosophical. "To
have weapons of your own for waging space wars, you have to understand first why you need them there. We've already passed the 'Star Wars' epic, and know well how it ended - in the breakup of the Soviet Union."

"Russia has a more adequate answer to the possible deployment by the
USA of weapons in space, but we have no need to deploy in space
expensive armaments for it; the answer will be absolutely asymmetric,"
the deputy defense minister underscored.

He noted that the USA has become "more rational and down-to-earth" in
its outer space militarization plans.

In Popovkin's opinion, the USA is very worried about its orbiting cluster.

"They are conducting operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, whose effectiveness depends to a considerable extent on the stable work of
satellite navigation and communications equipment within the orbiting
cluster," he said.

"There are no problems to shoot down a spacecraft, which China
convincingly showed recently," the military official said.

Itar-Tass
June 17, 2009