Duma ratifies Armenia-Russia Regional Air Defense System deal

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Russian State Duma has ratified an agreement on the establishment of a Regional Air Defense System by Armenia and Russia in the Caucasian region. The document was submitted to the parliament by President Vladimir Putin, Russian media report.

The two countries signed the deal in Moscow almost a year ago, on December 23, 2015. The document stipulates “the establishment of a regional Unified Air Defense System as part of the of CIS Unified Anti-Air Defense System.”

The main task of the system is to “set up and maintain air defense combat duty in the Caucasus region, keep the battle management system, the weaponry and the military hardware of the Unified Air Defense System on alert, cooperate with the forces of other regional air defense systems,” the document says.

In peacetime, the member states’ defense ministries are supposed to draw up plans for the combined use of the troops, their joint air defense combat duties, as well as operational and combat training.

Armenia’s Parliament ratified the agreement in late June.