MOSCOW. Dec 22 (Interfax-AVN) - The law granting the Air Defense Forces the right to shoot down aircraft, hijacked by terrorists, including those with passengers onboard, will allow large-scale aerial terrorist attacks on large cities and strategic facilities to be prevented, a high-ranking official of a Russian law-enforcement agency said on Wednesday.
He was asked by Interfax-Military News Agency to comment on the bill "On the Response to Terrorism", dwelling on the aforementioned issue.
"The bill will define an official, authorized to employ air defense forces against hijacked aircraft, including passenger planes. The authority is likely to be vested in a senior military official, such as the defense minister, the Armed Forces chief of staff, or the Air Force commander-in-chief," he said.
According to him, the Russian Air Defense Forces comply with the standing operating procedure, adopted in the 1990s, which does not allow them to shoot down passenger planes.
He noted that the Soviet SOP was tough - the decision on intercepting the violator of the Soviet airspace or grounding it could only be taken by the Air Defense regiment officer of the day, or his superiors. "The same tough measures could also be taken against a passenger plane, which had deviated from its course," he said.
He also said that the USSR Air Defense Forces had shot down over 20 various aircraft and forced to land in excess of 100 planes, including passenger planes, which had breached airspace usage rules.
The bill "On the Response to Terrorism", submitted by a group of legislators from the Unified Russia faction, headed by State Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov, has already passed the first reading.
The bill's article, regulating employment of the Armed Forces for "direct prevention of terrorist attacks", says that the Armed Forces can be employed for "intercepting aircraft, hijacked by terrorists or used by terrorist to deliver their terrorist attacks.