#11
The Baltic Times
April 25, 2003
Radar installations upset Russia

RIGA - Russian government officials have stated their unease with the planned installation of high-tech radar systems on the borders with Estonia and Latvia.

An unnamed official in Russia's Air Force was quoted by Interfax as having said that "the construction of the radar station in Latvia and the launch of a radar in Estonia poses additional problems for us, give the fact that they will be part of NATO's future air monitoring system."

In particular, the Latvia-based radar will make it possible "to monitor airspace over the territory of Russia up to Yaroslavl (central Russia)," according to the air force official.

Latvia has agreed to installing Lockheed Martin's TPS-177 radar system in the town of Audrini in the eastern part of the country. The system will allow for the monitoring of airspace in a 450 kilometer radius. The Latvian government supported the system's installation in February, and the system should be operational by summer.

Local residents, however, have expressed fears that the system will lead to long-term health effects, forcing the government to issue funds to monitor how the high-tech radar system will affect the health of the some 9,000 residents in Audrini.

Russian officials, meanwhile, said the radar systems will "make it possible to conduct intelligence starting from the moment an aircraft takes off, as well as to register launches of ground and air-based missiles in northwestern Russia.

Airis Rikveilis, spokesman for the Latvian Defense Ministry, told Baltic News Service that "the radar station will serve not only military, but civilian ends."

Rikveilis added, "Latvia is an independent state, and it has the right to control its airspace."

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