U.S. plans to deploy an anti-missile radar in the Caucasus affect Russia's national security, former commander of the Russian Air Force Anatoly Kornukov said Friday.

"I cannot say what kind of radar it will be -- surveillance or sector radar. More likely, it will be surveillance radar. In any case, southern regions of Russia will be within their range, and this cannot but concern our military," Kornukov was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

"More likely Americans will place the radar in Georgia or in Azerbaijan, as these countries can become potential targets for Iranian missiles," Kornukov said.

Director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, Lieutenant General Henry Obering said in Brussels Thursday that Washington wanted to base an anti-missile radar in the Caucasus. But he declined to specify which country would host the radar.

The United States said the planned defenses would not be aimed at Russia but were intended to defend against missile attacks from countries such as Iran.

Source: Xinhua