Putin Beefs Up ICBM Capacity

[Emillereid]

By Simon Saradzhyan 

10/05/03: (Moscow Times: Staff Writer)  President Vladimir Putin told top military commanders Thursday that Russia will put dozens of multi-warhead SS-19 intercontinental ballistic missiles on combat duty. 

In a separate development, a Defense Ministry paper released ahead of Putin's comments warned that Russia might have to revise its plans for military reform and nuclear defense strategy if NATO did not drop what it termed its "anti-Russian orientation."

<snip>





He added that Russia should be ready to carry out pre-emptive strikes anywhere in the world. According to the Defense Ministry, the military should be prepared to fight two "conflicts of any type" simultaneously as well as carry out peacekeeping operations.

Ivan Safranchuk, the Moscow representative of the Washington-based Center for Defense Information, said Thursday that the armed forces would hardly be able to fight two regional conflicts simultaneously, let alone two "conflicts of any type." 

But Pikayev said that some of the speeches, including warnings to NATO, could have been aimed at pleasing patriotic voters ahead of the State Duma elections.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4893.htm

It appears that Russia has decided to take a page from the PNAC Rebuilding America's (Russia's) Defenses -- it too needs to buff up its 'defenses' and reserves the right to engage in pre-emptive strikes (otherwise known as offensive war). Good work Dubya' -- everybody wants to be just like us. The USA strikes Iraq, Israel strikes Syria -- wonder who Russia will decide to strike?

[annagull]

1. Oh Sh*t.

The Russians are cranking up the war machine. Preemptive war was the most destructive mistake any President has made in the modern era. Even if we get a Democrat into the WH, this is going to be tough to negotiate.

[IMayBeWrongBut]

4. I think...

I think I'll be on the "Oh Sh*t" side of this issue myself.

[Resistance Is Futile]

2. Let's keep this in perspective

The number of deployed nuclear weapons is limited by Start II. Russia is already at the limit on paper, and well below in practice. All they're doing is replacing obsolete ICBMs with newer models. This is a good thing as aging missiles are unsafe.

As for fighting two conventional wars anywhere in the world, this is nothing more than bluster for local consumption. Russia doesn't have the money or the equipment to project power anywhere beyond its borders. Putin is enough of a realist to understand this. Further, Russia has virtually no prospect of getting enough money to return to the USSR's former place as a world power.

Russia has been loudly reminding people that the Bear isn't dead (he just smells that way) but they're not yet resuming preparations to fight WWIII. Putin isn't exactly a saint but there's a lot less reason to be worried about him doing something terminally stupid than to be worried about the Texas Idiot launching another war.

[tlb]

3. Agreed.

As things are the requirement for military reform in Russia has been blatantly demonstrated by the failure in Chechnya. After 10,000 casualties and years of failure that isn't even being addressed.

Until that is done I am not going to be worrying about a Russian blitzkreig to the English Channel. Talk is cheap.

[IMayBeWrongBut]

5. Hmm

After 10 million casualties and years of failure the Russians eventually mopped the floors of Berlin.

I don't think it's a good idea to have more than half our army tied up in Iraq with Russia making comments like this. So what if it's all talk, the war in Iraq has put the US in a weaker position militarily, which was needless.

[Capt_Nemo]

6. It is not that clear cut

the russians are now steadily building up their stock of new
generation stand-off (3,000 Km) conventional cruise missiles.
This gives their strategic bombers a conventional global reach
capability

They are expensive but from now on they have the capability to make them rain anywhere
in the world.
What they are saying is that from now on they
will kick the but of any "aspirin factory" anywhere on the planet.
They'll be in the business of harrassing small countries like
the US did in the 90's.

Of course that they are still not capable of transporting hundreeds of
thousands of troops and topple regimes anywhere they like, but this
would only get them into more quagmires, so that capability is
useless...

[bpilgrim]

7. the BUSH DOCTRINE has brought the world to this point

let's all toast to dUbYa :toast:

peace

[tkmorris]

8. Ha!

Welcome to "Cold War II" folks. Strap yourselves in, it's liable to be a bumpy ride.