Russia will build a new electronic warfare system to counter cruise missiles after gathering data from two unexploded US-made Tomahawk missiles which it obtained in Syria.
The US-led coalition had launched a missile attack against suspected Syrian chemical weapons sites earlier this year. Some of the missiles succeeded in knocking off their targets while some others failed to explode. The Russian military claims to have obtained two such missiles from their Syrian allies and are studying them to develop electronic warfare systems designed to intercept these missiles.
"On the basis of this experience [the missile strike by the Western coalition in Syria], technical tasks for new work are being prepared now. They will take into consideration all the information obtained to help us build prototypes of new electronic warfare systems," Vladimir Mikheev, an adviser to the first deputy general director of Russia's KRET, said in an interview with Sputnik.
"Having this missile in hand, we can clearly understand what channels of communication, information and control, navigation and range finding it has… And knowing all these parameters, we will be able to more effectively counter these cruise missiles at all stages of their combat deployment," he stressed.
Speaking about the time frame for the development of new systems, Mikheev noted that according to the requirements of the state as customer, a full development cycle on electronic warfare systems takes about 2-3 years and these prototypes will not be an exception.