Russia will form an Air-Space Force by combining its Air Force and Space Forces in 2015. The military is working to develop a reliable layered missile defense system in space, and to deploy newest radars.

MOSCOW, January 13 (Sputnik) – Russia will create an Air-Space Force from the merger of its Air Force and Space Forces in 2015, the country’s Armed Forces General Staff chief, Valery Gerasimov, said Tuesday.

“A new type of armed forces will be created in 2015, the Air-Space Forces, by combining two already existing types of military armed forces: the Air Force and Space Forces,” Gerasimov said.

Earlier it was reported that Russia would combine these two military forces in 2016.

According to Gerasimov, the military is working to develop a reliable layered missile defense system in space, and to deploy newest radars.

The establishment of the Air-Space Forces has been widely discussed in the press in recent years, but such rumors were always denied by the authorities. Last summer, Russian Air Force commander-in-chief Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev confirmed the creation of the new force.