"Control over all elements of aerospace defense must be exercised from a single center," Colonel-General Yury Solovyov, commander of the Air Defense Forces Special Command (former Moscow Military District Air Defense Command).
"That will allow us to make quick decisions and deploy all forces efficiently," he said.
The general said that the new concept had been already approved and needs to be thoroughly implemented.
"The concept requires a return to the organizational structure that was in operation before the reform of 1997 and reintegration of certain missile defense, air defense and air force units," Solovyov said.
In 1997, after several years of deliberation and heated debates, the Russian leadership began the structural reform of the armed forces. The reform was to move away from the traditional five-service structure of the Soviet Armed Forces, which included the Strategic Missile Forces, the Navy, the Land Forces, the Air Force, and the Air Defense Forces.
The main provisions of the July 1997 presidential decree ordered dissolution of the Air Defense Forces, which were to be split between the Strategic Missile Forces and the Air Force. The Missile and Space Defense Forces, which had control over the early-warning, missile defense, and space surveillance systems, were transferred under the jurisdiction of the Strategic Missile Forces.
In addition, the Military Space Forces, which had been a separate branch of the Armed Forces since 1982, were subordinated to the Strategic Missile Forces. The Air Force and the remainder of the Air Defense Forces, which included radio-technical and surface-to-air missile troops and air defense fighter aircraft units, were merged to form the new Air Force.
