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Russia needs drone bases near Northern Sea Route due to escalation — expert

Alexander Stepanov underlined that the US and their NATO allies are proactively ‘"filling" the region with the military infrastructure

MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/. The deployment of the system of Russian bases for reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) Inokhodets and Forpost in Kamchatka and along the Northern Sea Route is the response to actions of the US and their allies in the Arctic, program director of the Academy of Political Sciences Alexander Stepanov told TASS.

The Izvestiya newspaper reported earlier, citing sources in the Russian Defense Ministry, that Inokhodets and Forpost family drones will patrol the water area of the Northern Sea Route and the coast of Kamchatka.

"The decision of the Russian Defense Ministry to deploy a network of bases for reconnaissance and strike UAVs, including the integration of Inokhodets and Forpost family drones, will make it possible to reach parity with the enemy and offsets threats projected by the Pentagon to Russian military and civilian infrastructure in the Arctic," the expert said.

The US and their NATO allies are proactively ‘"filling" the region with the military infrastructure, focusing on F-35 fighter jets and various types of marine and air autonomous systems, Stepanov added.

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