Russia deploys new nuclear cruise missiles
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Independent Minds
Six new atomic submarines, armed with improved nuclear-tipped cruise missiles, will join the Russian navy. The Defence Ministry said the first, the Severodvinsk, will be launched in 2011 and at least five others of the same type will be built by 2017.
The new hypersonic cruise missiles with increased range are designed to strike "aircraft carriers of the potential enemy if they pose a direct threat to Russia's security," the ministry said. It added that the missiles are also capable of hitting land targets. Russia has increasingly relied on nuclear weapons to compensate for the decline of its conventional forces. In December, the chief of the Russian general staff, General Nikolai Makarov, said Russia will keep its arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons, which he said were necessary to counter a massive Nato advantage in conventional weapons. Tactical nuclear weapons have a much shorter range compared to strategic nuclear weapons. They are intended for use within a theatre of battle. Earlier this week, the Russian navy's deputy chief of staff said the role of tactical nuclear weapons in the Russian navy may grow. Vice-Admiral Oleg Burtsev said the increasing range and precision of tactical nuclear weapons makes them an important asset.
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Comments
Long live Russia.
Russia+USSR saved the world from the terrors of Napoleon & Hitler Inter Alia. And if Russia has to fight yet again Fascists, even if they are called the USA and her allies. So be it!!
Do these Russian reinforcements worry the Chinese or is it just a measure to counteract USA's eastern defense (or offensive) ambitions? It would be good to know the Chinese perspective on this change.
destroyers, smaller surface vessels and submarines. An aircraft carriers might be acquired or built in the future. Until such time the new nuclear cruise missiles do not pose a threat to the Chinese.
I believe that the only US overseas ambitions at the present time is an successful extraction from Iraq,and some way to end the war in Afghanistan. Only some one with the intelligence of Douglas Feith would be looking for other foreign adventures. As Mr Feith has left the Pentagon, I believe the rest of the world can breath in peace.
China would be pleased with the present American-Russian relationship, as it allows them to buy up raw materials in the third world with out being bothered by the two other super powers. Who are on the verge of an arms race and cold war at a time of world recession if not depression. Not the best of all possible worlds.
Let the USA initiate the invasion and we'll tag along...
(it has gas resources in abundance as a bonus :-)
"And if Russia has to fight yet again Fascists, even if they are called the USA and her allies.
So be it!!"
Sadly the governments of the 'Axis of Evil', USA, Britain and Isreal are fascist, as are many of the NATO tribe.
The riding roughshod over the people of these countries all (suposedly) in the name of freedom, anti-terrorism and national security can be seen for what it is.
Totalitarianism.
Which Russia has never dispensed of with, even now when they are no longer ruling the USSR empire.
Americas double digit aircraft carriers compared to the odd one or two that other countries possess gives them an advantage.
Even Russia had but the one aircraft carrier in service, quite surprisingly really.
Nothing like these new "improved nuclear-tipped cruise missiles" Russia is said it will develop to counter measure against the USA.
I'd like to see 10 American Aircraft Carriers sunk in a day, then they wouldn't have such a strategic advantage.
Then again the USA has bases everywhere around the World on dry land.
With the state of the World economy these 6 nuclear subs might not even get built.
You can be sure for the short term the Americans will be doing all they can, FINANCIALLY, to counter Russia's military 'counter measure'.
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Oh, and our Mr 'lewis_northants', you'd be better off not posting you name address and phone number chap.
There are a lot of crazed people on the internet, who you don't want to get bothered by.
Whatever else you may say about Russia since the collapse of the Jewish USSR, and China, they are not the ones who have reeked havoc and misery across the globe in the current age.
Remember Brezinski will proudly state on his resume that he created Pol Pot and that he drew the Russians into Afghanistan. If this is not troubling to the Russians then they need to be concerned by the Pentagons security advisor James Jones who publicly stated that he takes his orders from Kissinger another frightening figure lurking in the shadows.
We have been conditioned to believing that the axis of evil was Baghdad, N. Korea and Iran. The Russians don't watch CNN, FOX and American Idol so they see things differently. They see the axis of evil as Washington, London and Tel Aviv. They have correctly figured out that in terms of conventional forces they are outgunned and see the need for a tactical nuclear arsenal.
The Russians watch as the US and NATO try once again to encircle Russia. Most Russians do not understand Engish so they are not swayed by Obama rhetoric and instead feel they are looking at a well armed but increasing desperate superpower controlled by a dangerous and deceitful administration on the brink of failure. They know only too well that desperate men do desperate things and that the adminsitration is currently trying to gauge the Russian reaction to a US/ Israeli assault on Iran's oilfields. If they gauge wrong it will be one horrific showdown.
For those wondering, Henry Kissinger and his bunch of merry wizards decided that we outside of America were breeding too much and this was not allowed as we would all want to buy and own vital resources that only America thought it should have sole access to (apparently God told them), plans were drawn up with carrot and sticks, promoting family planning on a global scale, financial aid for countries that signed up to this, no sweeties for those that didn't, indirect action by inciting wars between fractious neighbours, to the more direct approach of America waging a war against nations under various pretenses to reduce human life that way.
This is a very real thing and can be googled up a treat, Some of the language though is rather chilling, having more than a passing resemblance to ideas given by a Mr A. Hitler and his Aryan chums.
Since communism fell in Russia I have viewed her as a potential friend and guarantor of Europe in the future. China is the real problem- she is building up a vast industrial base from her sales to Europe and North America and has designs on several nations in her region and is busy supressing another.
I would much rather have a new alliance formed that includes both the US and Russia, the role of NATO is over now.
Americans play Monopoly, Russians play Chess
Elmer Fudd-Des Moines
Bill Clinton tried to buy this missile for the US and was rebuffed very firmly, this one was not for the Americans (unless given as a surprise gift) and its strategic and theatre potential is devastating, needless to say that other newer missiles in this family have been given longer ranges, larger payloads but still that 100% strike chance with devastating results and the US has nothing to counter this.
The Americans thought that during the Soviet collapse it would allow them to gain time to catch up on technology that was some years in front of the American's best, the Russians whilst allowing its country to fall to pieces in many ways, still carried on regardless in developing and building new systems, the Americans gained nothing except a leaner and fitter adversary, divested of the very things that kept it slow and vulnerable.
Last year, the Russians also gave the US a real shock, they calmly notified them that using their S-300's and S-400's they could digitally track the US's stealth planes with ease, adding more to a long list of deficiencies that the US tries to play against a very sophisticated nation indeed.
Russia has always excelled in unconventional military systems, it has a formidable submarine fleet, sister ships to the Chinese sub that popped up totally undetected by the carrier fleet in the Gulf last year (Iran has these also), Russia also recognises that America sees and hears through its satellite networks and has on very lo ready to launch time, a huge amount of "Satellite killers" that will literally blind and deafen the US in any coming conflict throwing its military operations into disarray.
So whilst the US has been concentrating on building robot dogs and active denial systems to use on civilian targets, the Russians have just carried on improving already superior technologies, recently a Pentagon report suggested that the Russians were some 15 years in front of the US in certain areas and if Russia has the ability to negate America's carrier groups, this reduces America's threatening position against Russia tremendously.
So whilst the US is demanding we put our safety in such as the very poor performing Patriot or trust our lives to the ABM system which still is fraught with problems, the Russians are churning out proven system after proven system and to be blunt, if it came to a shooting war... we are gonna get fried.