MOSCOW. Dec 3 (Interfax-AVN) - It is necessary to make the military component in space considerably more effective in the coming several years to ensure defense and security of Russia, Major General Alexander Kvasnikov, Russian Space Forces chief of staff, said in an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda daily, published Friday.
"I do not mean the quantity of spacecraft, but their quality. The assets in space should feature state-of-the-art scientific and technological breakthroughs introduced," he said.
He added that the Russian space group numbers 60 spacecraft now, both military and dual-use, which allow the Russian Space Forces to fulfil their duties in general.
However, he said, Russia is not taking any steps to militarize the space, unlike the U.S. that has started to bring its attack assets to orbit, which may turn space a theater of war.
He noted that the difference between the military and commercial satellites turns invisible when the U.S. conducts military operations with many commercial spacecraft involved.
According to him, measures will be taken to prevent Russia from being suddenly outperformed in terms of science and technology. For instance, he said, all key space groups will be renovated in the coming 5-6 years, and the early warning systems will turn much more effective, as well as the space control and missile defense ones.