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Russia Plans to Increase Spy Satellites to Keep Watch on Afghanistan
By Associated Press
posted: 11:25 am ET
03 October 2001
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russia_sats_011003 MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia plans to speed up modernization of its aging spy satellite fleet to get more information on Afghanistan, the chief of the nation's space forces said Wednesday. Gen. Anatoly Perminov said Russia's current satellite force was "extremely insufficient." "In the nearest future, we will draft a program of intensive buildup of the satellite fleet and submit it to the defense ministry and the Cabinet," Perminov told reporters, according to the Interfax news agency. The Russian government has lacked the funds to modernize its satellite force which has become increasingly obsolete. Russian Aerospace Agency chief Yuri Koptev said earlier this year that about 80 percent of Russia's some 100 military and civilian satellites had already served their designated lifetime. Perminov said existing spy satellites still allow the military to keep an eye on Afghanistan, but they are expected to go out of service soon. "As of now, we see what we need, but we will have to decommission some spacecraft in the near future," he said. Perminov did not say how many military satellites Russia has, or how many of them watch Afghanistan. He said the United States has enough information on Afghanistan from their spy satellites. President Vladimir Putin has put his support behind the U.S.-led international action against terrorism. As a consequence, Russian officials said they were sharing intelligence information with Washington to help hunt down Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington. Both U.S. officials and Russian veterans of the Soviet war in Afghanistan say intelligence data is of paramount importance for the success of any effort to destroy bin Laden's terrorist bases hidden in the labyrinth of Afghan mountains, caves and tunnels.
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