After the retirement of its original anti-satellite system, USSR did not give up the capability to develop and deploy anti-satellite weapons. Following the end of the IS program, a brand new anti-satellite system was emerging on the drawing board during the first half of the 1980s. This time it was apparently considered as a segment of a comprehensive antimissile defense shield -- the Soviet response to Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, or "Star Wars."
In May 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev, who succeeded Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko as the Soviet leader, arrived to Baikonur for a long-awaited visit. Among the technologies, demonstrated to Gorbachev at the site was the IS spacecraft and the prototype of a next-generation anti-satellite platform called "Naryad" (Sentry), also known as 14F11.
General Zavalishin, who showed Gorbachev around the exhibit in Baikonur, used the opportunity to advocate the resumption of the orbital anti-satellite tests. Zavalishin reminded Gorbachev about similar work in the US and he promised to cover up the ASAT launches so nobody would ever suspect the tests were actually taking place. As Zavalishin recalls, in response "...Gorbachev went into incoherent and wordy explanations, which concluded with a polite, but resolute refusal."(100) Ironically, only few days after this conversation, on May 15, 1987, the first heavy-lift Energia rocket blasted off from Baikonur, carrying the Skif DM (Polyus) spacecraft, which was later described as the prototype of a "battle station" in space. Among other things, the Polyus could reportedly carry anti-satellite weapons.
Like Skif battle station, the Naryad system was under development by the KB Salyut design bureau led by D. A. Polukhin, with E. G. Sizov as a leading designer of the project. (526)
Naryad would ride into space onboard a silo-based missile derived from UR-100NU and upgraded with a highly maneuverable upper stage, which was later declassified for commercial use under name Briz-K. In its turn, Briz-K was apparently designed to release one or several rocket-powered "kill vehicles" developed at Nudelman's OKB-16 design bureau and capable of intercepting orbiting satellites at altitudes of up to 40,000 kilometers -- much higher than the reach of the previous IS system.
OKB-16's interceptor would be released at its target under guidance from Naryad's launch platform. The interceptor could adjust its trajectory with short bursts of four liquid-propellant thrusters installed at the center of the vehicle perpendicularly to the flight path. Upon approaching its target, the interceptor would home in on it with the help of a self-guiding warhead developed at KB Geophysika. The interceptor would then switch to autonomous control with the help of its onboard computer. (526)
Along with destroying enemy satellites, the capability of the Naryad system to intercept ballistic warheads during various stages of flight or even hit targets on the ground was also rumored.
The government authorized the construction of several experimental vehicles for the project with the first tests planned around 1987.
http://www.russianspaceweb.com/naryad.html
