MOSCOW. Nov 10 (Interfax-AVN) - The Iskander tactical missile system will enter the Russian army's inventory in 2004, Colonel General Vladimir Zaritsky, chief of the Russian missile forces and artillery, said on Monday.
"The Iskander system is to enter the inventory of several units in the near future, already next year," Zaritsky told a news conference in Moscow.
In order to accomplish missions, the units fitted with Iskander systems must have reconnaissance assets that make it possible "to determine target coordinates in real time," the general said.
"Reconnaissance UAVs and space assets will be used for this purpose," he noted.
Mass procurement of artillery hardware by military units will not begin before 2010, Zaritsky went on.
"The state of national economy will not allow us to start procuring new hardware in the next few years," he said.
"The main stress at the moment will be laid on maintaining existing samples to preserve them operational for a longer period," the general added.
The Iskander surface-to-surface missile system is intended for secret preparation and delivery of efficient missile strikes on small and area-type targets, such as the enemy's fire assets, air defense and anti-missile installations, aircraft on airfields, etc. The missile fired by Iskander has a range of 50 to 280km, launch weight of 3,800kg and payload of 480kg. Its trajectory is not ballistic and variable. The missile is controlled during the entire flight, by gas-dynamic control surfaces on the initial stage and by aerodynamic control surfaces after it gains speed.
The system's missile is made on the stealth technology and has a small dispersion surface. The major part of its trajectory has an altitude of 50km that reduces the chances of hitting it from above or from below. Developers of systems intended to combat Iskander are facing almost overwhelming difficulties.
Experts of the Machine-Building Design Bureau assure that the system's specifications are superior to those of foreign analogues.