Azernews.Az

Russia plans to complete the construction of a new radar station, Voronezh-VP, in Azerbaijan’s Gabala region in 2019 to replace the Soviet-era facility which is part of the Russian missile warning system, Director General of the Radio Engineering Institute Vladimir Savchenko said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

"We are talking about a high potential radar station assembled at a meter range plant. Though installation of the station was planned for 2017-2019, everything depends on the will of our esteemed neighbors. A final agreement will be consolidated on the political level," Savchenko said.

According to Savchenko, dismantling the existing Gabala radar station is not planned, since it is owned by Azerbaijan.

"The new station will be owned by Russia, and it will be a module type facility. So, it is always possible to dismantle it, move and re-install it elsewhere," Savchenko said.

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said in November that Russia plans to fully rebuild the Gabala radar station and at the same time reduce the size of the area leased for the radar station's needs.

The Russian Defense Ministry reportedly announced earlier about the negotiations with Azerbaijan to extend the lease of the radar station until 2025. The ten-year agreement on its lease by Moscow expires on December 24, 2012.

The Gabala radar station, located in northwestern Azerbaijan, was built in the Soviet times as one of the most important elements of the USSR’s missile defense system. After Azerbaijan gained independence, the radar station become the country's property but Russia continued to operate the facility.

The radar station allows to track territory spanning 6,000 km, including Iran, Turkey, India, the Middle East, as well as the Indian Ocean and a part of the Australian continent. The early warning equipment would immediately track mid-range missiles with nuclear warheads potentially launched from these territories.