ROSTOV-ON-DON. Aug 1 (Interfax-AVN) - No violations of Russian airspace were registered in the south of the country in July, Major General Stanislav Kishenkov, deputy commander of the 51st air defense corps, said on Thursday.
"No violations of the air space from the Russian side or from the adjacent side were registered last month," Kishenkov told Interfax-Military News Agency.
Air defense forces of the corps cover the airspace over Chechnya from three sides, he said.
"Radio-technical means of observation are on combat duty round the clock. Mountainous areas in southern Chechnya are no exception," Kishenkov noted.
According to him, air defense forces are fully in control of the aerial border in southern Russia.
"In addition, units of the Defense Ministry's Land Forces and Federal Border Guard Service have their own ground-based air defense assets and the right to use them to counter targets violating the Russian airspace," Kishenkov said.
More than 1,000 aircraft with appropriate permits cross the area controlled by the 51st corps monthly. All aircraft in the airspace over southern Russia are registered by ground-based radio-technical services.
"In case the aerial border is violated in the zone controlled by the corps, on-duty forces will take off from airfields and surface-to-air missile systems will get an order to be prepared for accomplishment of the assigned mission," Kishenkov said.
He recalled that strike air defense assets of the corps protect the Russian airspace over the Black, Caspian and Azov Seas, as well as over the Main Caucasus Range.
The corps has a sufficient number of radio-technical units on round-the-clock duty, including in southern Chechnya. These units are protected by forces of the Airborne Troops and Federal Border Guard Service, Kishenkov added.