New branch of Armed Forces, Aerospace Forces, created in Russia - Shoigu
MOSCOW. Aug 3 (Interfax-AVN) - In compliance with the Russian presidential decree, a new branch of Russia's Armed Forces - the Aerospace Forces - began tackling its tasks from August 1, Russian Defense Minister Gen. Sergei Shoigu said during a conference call on Monday.
"The process of forming the Aerospace Forces through a merger of the Air Defense Forces and the Aerospace Defense Forces was the most optimal way of upgrading the country's aerospace defense system," he said.
"Their creation was prompted by a shift of the 'center of gravity' in combat struggle to the aerospace sphere," the minister said.
"Aviation, the air defense and missile defense forces and the space forces and means of the Armed Forces have now been merged under a unified command," Shoigu said.
"First and foremost, this will make it possible to concentrate the entire responsibility for forming a military-technological policy aimed at developing the forces tackling tasks in the aerospace sphere in a 'single pair of hands', secondly, make their use more effective by promoting closer integration, and, thirdly, ensure the step-by-step development of the country's aerospace defense system," the minister said.