Why Does Moldova Need a Modern Air Defense System?

Country’s leadership revealed plans to purchase new means of detecting and destroying drones. RTA expert looks into the reasons for buying such expensive equipment

Vladimir ROTARI, RTA: The last week was marked by a sharp uptick in the stakes in the proxy conflict in Ukraine. Massive attacks on energy infrastructure in the neighboring country have been resumed. There has been a tightening of the sanction regime against Russia, especially with regard to restrictions on the activities of Gazprombank, one of the main “windows on the world” for the Russian Federation. And, most importantly, permission has been given to use Western long-range weapons against targets on recognized Russian territory; two such attacks have already taken place. The latter has crossed the Kremlin’s most clearly defined “red line”, to which it has so far responded by using a cutting-edge ballistic hypersonic missile that, according to Vladimir Putin, cannot be intercepted by any existing air and missile defenses. It is clear that the outgoing administration of Joe Biden is ready to continue to speculate for a rise, trying to make it as difficult, and ideally impossible, for Donald Trump to abandon the US strategy adopted in February 2022. This means that in the next two months we are likely to see further escalation on both sides, up to and including bringing the situation to a direct military clash between the West and Russia. Moldova is directly affected by these events. Firstly, they make the prospects of gas transit through Ukrainian territory vague, which threatens Moldova’s energy security. Secondly, the latest attack on energy facilities in the neighboring country has, among other things, affected the infrastructure linking us with Ukraine. Thirdly, unidentified drones without warheads have been found on Moldovan territory with increasing frequency, which, apparently, are used as decoys in strikes against facilities in the Odesa oblast. And they have never yet been detected by our air defense equipment, including the latest French radar acquired last year. All this became a convenient occasion to launch an obviously planned information campaign about the need to create our own air defence system. Former Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu, Prime Minister Dorin Recean and, of course, Defense Minister Anatolie Nosatii spoke on this topic. He said that Moldova is purchasing two modern anti-drone defense systems, which include such means of destruction as “artillery guns, machine guns and missiles”. It should be said that the military sector remains one of the priorities for the current government. This is proved the recent amendments to the state budget, where spending on defense has slightly increased while funding for health care and social protection has been substantially reduced. In other words, even in the current difficult period, which is also weighed down by the upcoming parliamentary election campaign, the political leadership is not going to abandon the course of increasing military spending to 1% of GDP. However, even such an increase will clearly be insufficient to build a truly modern and reliable air defense system. Air defense is one of the most expensive areas of military construction. The cost of each of its elements, from detection radars to antiair missile, far exceeds our countries’ objective capabilities. For an example, we can look at the nomenclature of systems supplied to Ukraine. Even without taking Patriot into account, where the cost of one battery is about a billion dollars and one missile a few million, it’s still a very expensive weapon. The The Patriot may be redundant for us, but the price tags for systems like NASAMS, SAMP-T or IRIS-T are in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars. If the experience of Ukrainian mobile groups is to be tested, they have in service portable anti-aircraft missile systems Stinger and Martlet with average rates per shell up to a million dollars. Finally, anti-aircraft tanks like the German Gepard can be used, but the price of one unit is at least 1.5 million euros, and its ammunition is quite expensive. It is also necessary to make allowance for the extreme demand for such weapons in the world right now, which is understandably reflected in their cost. In fact, the approximate amount involved could have been realized last year, when approximately 14.5 million euros were spent from the budget for the purchase of only one radar. Now, according to the defense minister, at least 5-6 such radars are needed to effectively monitor Moldovan airspace, and apparently, similar equipment of another type is needed to detect low-flying objects such as Shahed drones. All of these calculations are just to make it clear that we will not be able to build a modern air defense system on our own. But since the plans have been announced and, reportedly, even procurement contracts have already been signed, it turns out that Western partners are ready to finance this project. But why? In my opinion, the answer is the role in which Western allies see Moldova in the next phase of the geopolitical conflict. The other day, the speaker of the Russian Foreign Ministry accused NATO of trying to turn our country into a logistical base for supplying Ukraine. I believe that the goals are actually even more strategic in nature and are related to plans to establish “mobility corridors” that would allow the rapid transfer of troops and military equipment of the Alliance countries to potential theatres of combat operations. These intentions are not hidden by the West, which has long ago announced the creation of something like a “military Schengen” with simplified procedures for the transit of military cargo. Moldova’s inclusion in the EU military mobility project was also a clear sign that we are a direct part of the described plans. This is proved by the allocation of loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank, as well as an EU grant for the rehabilitation of the railway corridor Valcinet - Ocnita - Balti - Ungheni - Chisinau - Cainari. Companies from Greece and Germany will monitor the work. If we are really destined to play the role of a military hub and a transshipment point for Western arms and fuel and lubricants, then covering it with effective air defense systems seems absolutely logical. And it explains why our partners are ready to pay for and send us these scarce systems. Especially since as the confrontation in Ukraine escalates, the risks of Russian air strikes going beyond the Ukrainian area also increase. Many Russian experts and opinion leaders have long been demanding that their military and political leadership strike key supply points for Kyiv, such as the NATO logistics center in the Polish city of Rzeszow. One can imagine that such a center on Moldovan territory would be an even more “prime cut” given the absence of a Euro-Atlantic security umbrella over us - and therefore must be reliably protected.