One of the major assignments in 2016 will be the restoration of the potential of Ukrainian air defense, – NSDC Secretary
Restoration of the potential of air forces of Ukrainian Air Defense System is one of the major priorities, to which a separate NSDC meeting was devoted. This was stated by NSDC Secretary Oleksandr Turchynov in his interview to "5th channel".
According to him, exactly in 2016 one of the main assignments will be the restoration of the potential of our air defense. "It's not a state secret, but when Russia unleashed the aggression against Ukraine, our Armed Forces were actually destroyed at the time, and the most affected units were those, related to air defense", - Oleksandr Turchynov said.
He stressed that Ukrainian air defense have been systematically destroyed for decades. "As of 1992 we had 111 military airfields. Now there are 28 left. The quantity of fighter planes decreased by 10 times", - he explained.
NSDC Secretary also remarked in his interview that the decision to remove from combat duty S-330 complexes, or "BUK" "have been signed, most unfortunately, not only by ministers in the government of Yanukovych times, but also by those, who called themselves the representatives of democratic forces".
"When we recall the launches of air basing cruise missiles from strategic bombers, it should be said that Ukraine also had strategic bombers, which were given away for a pittance in the early 2000s to the Russian Federation, writing off artificial gas debts etc.", - Oleksandr Turchynov stated, adding that along with these aircrafts "about half a thousand of X-55 cruise missiles were given away - precisely that kind of missiles, with which Russia is attacking Syria nowadays".
Oleksandr Turchynov also indicated that since Ukraine is in the epicenter, which the Kremlin calls a "zone of its strategic interests", our military are studying the strategy and the tactics of the Russian Federation, in regard of conducting strikes from the air.
"We understand that Russia in case of escalation of the conflict in the East of our country, or at any other part of the Russian-Ukrainian border, may apply aviation. And we should be ready for this. And definitely, when the aggression comes from the air, we shall defend ourselves by destroying the aggressor in the air", - he stressed.