 Russia had operated large SIGINT stations in Cuba and Vietnam until 2001, but the chief of the General Staff, Anatoly Kvashnin, while the station in Lourdes, Cuba had been vital during the cold war "Now, the military-political situation has changed and there has been a qualitative leap in military equipment.With that money we can buy and launch 20 communication, intelligence and information satellites, and buy up to 100 sophisticated radars," Given US SIGINT satellite launches typically are quoted in the billion-dollar range, this seems an odd calculation.Vietnam found the Cam Ranh Bay station useful for information on Chinese movements in the South China Sea.