1 Mar 2018 20:41

Russia has created weapons capable of overcoming all existing and future missile defense systems - Shoigu

MOSCOW. March 1 (Interfax-AVN) - The new Russian weapon system, which was announced by the Russian president on Thursday, will ensure the country's safety for many decades ahead and is capable of overcoming existing and future missile defense systems, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday.

"[This is] a weapon which can overcome existing and future missile defense systems. What today is being created in Poland and Romania, being created in Alaska, and is expected to be created in South Korea and Japan - this anti-missile 'umbrella' turns out to be full of holes," Shoigu said.

"Russia has created the most modern weapon which is many years, and in some places decades, ahead," Shoigu said.

"All this will enable [us] to provide guaranteed security and protect the sovereignty of our country for many decades ahead. But the main thing is that it will help our country avoid being drawn into another arms race that NATO countries have persistently been imposing on us," the defense minister said.

"I think this is one of the most important messages, at least as far as our Armed Forces, Defense Ministry and national security are concerned," Shoigu said of President Vladimir Putin's address to the Federal Assembly on Thursday.

"This message also lays down a great deal for our Western partners and colleagues and, of course, for the country," Shoigu said.

"We are, of course, grateful to the president for highly rating the work of our Defense Ministry, our officers, and we share the appreciation for our science, our industry, which was able not only to preserve itself and to survive, but also to produce such results. The results that really enable us, already now, to possess a weapon that no one else has," the Russian defense minister said.