Russian MoD to spend $1 million on systems to track US missile tests
According to information posted on the state procurements website, the Russian Defense Ministry has announced a tender offer for the development of "Paritet,” a sophisticated tracking system that will track missiles will collect data on general characteristics of U.S. missile tests. This system will help to justify claims that the United States violates the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) during strategic weapons tests.
The tender offer was posted on July 26th. The year 2016 will mark the start of execution of the developmental work and it is slated to finish on October 19, 2018. Applications for the execution of the tender can be submitted until August 18th this year. The maximum contract price is 72.125 million rubles (approximately $1 million) and will be financed by the federal budget.
The tactical and technical terms of reference for the tender state that the purpose of the project is to create "a complex of hardware and software that will form source data and instructions" for the organization of means of control, processing of the recorded data and "situation assessment" during the testing of U.S. intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched missiles." It will prepare a rationale for the decision to claim that Americans violate the requirements of the New START Treaty during testing of strategic arms."
In April 2010, in Prague, the presidents of Russia and the United States signed the New START Treaty. It replaced the 1991 agreement (START I) and the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT) from May 24, 2002.
Earlier, the Washington Post reported that Washington may offer to renew the New START with Russia for another five years, although the current agreement is already valid until 2021. However, the Kremlin said Moscow has not received notification of U.S. President Barack Obama’s intention to do that.