MOSCOW. Dec 2 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Space Troops will pay more attention to countering terrorist threats in the upcoming training year 2003, the troops' press service reported on Monday.
"For the first time in the history of training military control bodies, special attention will be paid to maintaining close interaction with means and forces of military districts, Federal Security Service and Interior Ministry bodies in preventing terrorist acts at Space Troops installations," a press service official told Interfax-Military News Agency.
A lot of time will be spent on practicing joint actions with Emergencies Ministry units in coping with the aftermath of emergencies at potentially dangerous installations.
Space Troops Commander Anatoly Perminov said the mounting of the troops' combat potential was their main goal for the upcoming training year. This will be achieved through modernizing current assets and creating new ones in the spheres of early warning, anti-missile defense and space activity.
Development and perfection of military space activity and maintenance of the troops' technical assets on a level ensuring national defense and security are also mentioned among the main goals of the upcoming training year. The Space Troops will continue flight and design tests of the Rokot launch vehicle at the Plesetsk cosmodrome, start preparations for launches in the framework of testing the Strela launch vehicle at the Svobodny cosmodrome, continue reconstruction of the launcher for Soyuz-2 launch vehicle and scale up the construction of the Angara space missile system at Plesetsk.
The putting of the Okno optronics system in Tajikistan on combat duty will be among the highlights of the training year, the official said.
The training year 2003 started in the Space Troops on Sunday.