Russia to improve Azerbaijan radar site to monitor Iran missiles

Nov 18, 2011, 10:46 GMT

Moscow - Russia wants to upgrade equipment at a early-warning radar facility in Azerbaijan because of Iran's increasing capacity to launch a long-range missile, Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said Friday.

'We need this station and we want to modernise it,' Serdyukov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. 'In no small part we want to do this so we can watch the Iranian (missile) programme.'

Speaking in Moscow, Serdyukov said Russia was modernising its national air defences, and that a monitoring site rented by Russia near the Azerbaijan town of Gabala was a critical link in that early-warning network.

Russia pays Azerbaijan 14 million dollars a year to rent the Gabala site. Talks are in progress for a lease renewal, with Baku wanting to raise the rent and Moscow suggesting the rate stay the same in return for a smaller installation.

Missile defence is a contentious issue between Russia and NATO, which has announced plans to set up a missile shield in Europe to protect the region from a possible strike from the Middle East, and Iran in particular.

Moscow has said the planned European missile shield would threaten Russia's nuclear deterrent force, and has suggested NATO and Russia operate their air defence networks jointly, incorporating data collected from far-flung Russian early-warning installations like Gabala.