New Images Show Russian Nuclear Capable Missiles in Syria

Townhall ^ | 6 Jan 17 | Justin Holcomb

[elhombrelibre]

Russia has placed advanced surface-to-surface ballistic missiles in Syria, according to the Times of Israel.

High-resolution imagery released by ImageSat International on Thursday confirms what intelligence analysts have known since March of last year, that Moscow has indeed placed nuclear-capable ballistic missiles in Syria

“This revelation approves [sic] several unconfirmed reports of the Iskander presence in Syria and uncovers the system’s deployment site,” ImageSat said. “Most probably, heavy rain and floods forced the re-deployment of those two elements to the location in which they were revealed by iSi analysts,” the firm noted.

[dp0622]

What’s nuclear capable? What’s ballistic?

[eastforker]

Capable of mounting a nuclear warhead and ballistic compared to guided.

[dp0622]

I won’t bother you on what makes them capable as opposed to not capable :)

Ballistic means they have no control over them once they’re launched? thanks

[elhombrelibre]

Do you mean what type of missile is one that is ballistic?

[eastforker]

Ballistic is like a mortar or artillery shell. It’s destination is dependent on the trajectory in which it was launched.

[dp0622]

Yes. Thanks.

[dp0622]

What makes a missile capable of carrying a nuclear weapon? Is there an extra component on it?

And if ballistic is different from guided, does that mean there is no control once its launched? Thank again.

[elhombrelibre]

Yes, but when you put a nuclear warhead on them their accuracy is less important. Of course, Putin had no choice. Soros made him do it. Anyone who thinks otherwise is in favor of globalism, one world government, and homosexuality, or something like that, as the Putin defenders constantly say without a hint of realizing how silly they’re being with such pro-putin sophistries.

[elhombrelibre]

Nuclear warheads come in many sizes. Generally, the rocket (which really more what a ballistic missile is) has to be somewhat large. It’s less about an extra component than about the type of warhead, which would have to be tested to make sure the triggers work correctly in the compartment the warhead is riding in. That’s basically what North Korea is up to now. They’re testing the lift of the rocket and the triggers. And these types of missiles would not have control after launch. They’re very deadly, but not very sophisticated by today’s standard. I’d say this one in Syria is more about messaging, as in Putin saying, “I own Syria.”

[CodeToad]

“how silly they’re being with such pro-putin sophistries.”

Like your drama-queen hysterics like the one you just posted?

[USNBandit]

Ballistic means a high arcing trajectory using attained altitude in the boost phase to maintain an unpowered, high velocity terminal phase. Ballistic trajectories are generally used for long range. The Iskander has a number of different models with different guidance modes and a terminal CEP
of 5-7 meters. While it is nuclear capable there are versions with several different conventional war heads.

[ETL]

President Obama’s Missile Defense Policy: A Misguided Legacy

By Michaela Dodge
Sept 2016

As the ballistic missile threat continues to grow around the world, ballistic missile defense programs remain a quintessential feature of the U.S. national security posture. President Obama’s missile defense policy shifts and program cancellations cost the nation precious time and capabilities at a time when adversaries’ ballistic missile programs are becoming more sophisticated.

The new President in 2017 must avoid missile defense policy confusion, fund missile defense programs adequately, and deploy a comprehensive layered missile defense architecture, including interceptors in space. Heritage Foundation missile defense policy expert Michaela Dodge details the most vital steps for a 21st-century missile defense to protect Americans from a very real threat. ..."

Much more at link...

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2016/09/president-obamas-missile-defense-policy-a-misguided-legacy

or,

https://web.archive.org/web/20170107200441/http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2016/09/president-obamas-missile-defense-policy-a-misguided-legacy

[ETL]

From the campaign trail, 2008...

Obama Pledges Cuts in Missile Defense, Space, and Nuclear Weapons Programs

February 29, 2008 :: News
MissileThreat.com

A video has surfaced of Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama talking on his plans for strategic issues such as nuclear weapons and missile defense.

The full text from the video, as released, reads as follows:

Thanks so much for the Caucus4Priorities, for the great work you've been doing. As president, I will end misguided defense policies and stand with Caucus4Priorities in fighting special interests in Washington.

First, I'll stop spending $9 billion a month in Iraq. I'm the only major candidate who opposed this war from the beginning. And as president I will end it.[i.e. not win it]

Second, I will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending.

I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems.

I will not weaponize space.

I will slow our development of future combat systems.

And I will institute an independent "Defense Priorities Board" to ensure that the Quadrennial Defense Review is not used to justify unnecessary spending.

Third, I will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons. To seek that goal, I will not develop new nuclear weapons; I will seek a global ban on the production of fissile material; and I will negotiate with Russia to take our ICBMs off hair-trigger alert, and to achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenals.

You know where I stand. I've fought for open, ethical and accountable government my entire public life. I don't switch positions or make promises that can't be kept. I don't posture on defense policy and I don't take money from federal lobbyists for powerful defense contractors. As president, my sole priority for defense spending will be protecting the American people. Thanks so much.

Article: Obama Pledges Cuts in Missile Defense, Space, and Nuclear Weapons Programs:

http://web.archive.org/web/20090412030633/http://missilethreat.com/archives/id.7086/detail.asp

"MissileThreat.com is a project of The Claremont Institute devoted to understanding and promoting the requirements for the strategic defense of the United States."
__________________________________________________________

From Investor's Business Daily, Jan 2012:

Obama To Betray Missile Defense Secrets To Moscow

Investor's Business Daily ^ | January 9, 2012 | IBD staff

Appeasement: From ObamaCare to recess appointments, honoring the Constitution has not been an administration hallmark. But when it comes to betraying secrets to mollify the Russians, it becomes a document the president hides behind.

It was bad enough that the 2012 defense authorization bill signed by President Obama set America on a downward spiral of military mediocrity.

He also issued a signing statement, something he once opposed, saying that language in the bill aimed at protecting top-secret technical data on the U.S. Standard Missile-3 - linchpin of our missile defense - might impinge on his constitutional foreign-policy authority.

Section 1227 of the defense law prohibits spending any funds that would be used to give Russian officials access to sensitive missile-defense technology as part of a cooperation agreement without first sending Congress a report identifying the specific secrets, how they'd be used and steps to protect the data from compromise.

The president is required to certify that any technology shared will not be passed on to third parties such as China, North Korea or Iran, that the Russians will not use transferred secrets to develop countermeasures and that the Russians are reciprocating in sharing missile-defense technology. ..."

"In his signing statement, Obama said he would treat these legal restrictions as 'non-binding' and that 'my administration will also interpret and implement section 1244 (sic) in a manner that does not interfere with the president's constitutional authority to conduct foreign affairs and avoids the undue disclosure of sensitive diplomatic communications.'

Betraying our secrets is easy for a president who betrayed allies Poland and the Czech Republic to placate Moscow.

Poland was to host ground-based interceptors such as those we've deployed in California and Alaska, with missile-tracking radar deployed in the Czech Republic.

Obama pulled the plug when Moscow objected. Never mind, he said, we have a better approach: a four-phase plan that calls for using three versions of the Navy's Standard SM-3 interceptor missile that forms the backbone of its Aegis missile-defense system.

The fourth phase consists of a missile still on the drawing board scheduled for deployment by 2020, a version of the SM-3 called the Block IIB. It would intercept hostile missiles in the "early intercept" phase before an enemy missile could release its warheads and decoys. The Russians want the SM-3's secrets, and Obama appears to be willing to turn them over.

The president wants to save the New Start Treaty, which the Russians have threatened to abandon if we try to fully implement President Reagan's dream of defeating a nuclear missile attack.

Russia has unilaterally asserted that any qualitative or quantitative improvement in U.S. missile defenses would be grounds for withdrawal from the treaty.

Read More At Investor's Business Daily:
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/010912-597158-obama-gives-russia-missile-defense-secrets.htm#ixzz3jXmMbVwY
___________________________________________________

March 2012...

"Obama was talking with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev when neither of them realized that their conversation was being picked up by microphones. Here is what they said:

Obama: "On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved, but it's important for him to give me space."

Medvedev: "Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you ..."

Obama: "This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility."

Medvedev: "I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir."

"This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility." That statement tells us much about the president's mindset.

The specific mention of missile defense is worrisome enough. Mr. Obama has retreated from the missile defense plan that was negotiated with European allies during the George W. Bush administration.

Apparently, he is signaling Moscow that he intends to retreat further. The clear implication from the president's comments is that he cannot tell the American people before the election what he plans to do after the election.

In addition, there is the phrase "on all these issues," implying more is at stake than just missile defense."

Article: Obama plans double cross on missile defense
When it comes to keeping America safe, we shouldn't be too flexible:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/29/obama-plans-double-cross-on-missile-defense/print/
__________________________________________________________

[dp0622]

Thanks guys. Fascinating stuff.

There are arguments on how survivable a limited nuke exchange would be.

I’d rather not know! :)

[Mouton]

Wow nuke capable missiles. They are really pulling out the theatrics now. I assume they had nuke capable cruise missiles nearby recently too. No one mentioned that. What would be the use for them in Syria. Nuke turkey? Greece? Aleppo? IMO another anti ruskie piece designed to fan the flames.

[CyberAnt]

So .. I guess Sadaam did manage to get his chemical stuff into Syria before we attacked Iraq ..??

There were plenty of rumors about the sight of huge convoys of trucks traveling from Iraq into Syria .. right before we hit Iraq.

[ETL]

So .. I guess Sadaam did manage to get his chemical stuff into Syria before we attacked Iraq ..?? There were plenty of rumors about the sight of huge convoys of trucks traveling from Iraq into Syria .. right before we hit Iraq.

It of course was a *Russian* convoy.

[ETL]

So .. I guess Sadaam did manage to get his chemical stuff into Syria before we attacked Iraq ..?? There were plenty of rumors about the sight of huge convoys of trucks traveling from Iraq into Syria .. right before we hit Iraq.

"Romanian intelligence defector Ion Mihai Pacepa alleged that an operation for the removal of chemical weapons was prepared by the Soviet Union for Libya, and that he was told over thirty years ago by Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu, KGB chairman Yury Andropov, and later, Yevgeny Primakov, about the existence of a similar plan for Iraq.

It is 'perfectly obvious', wrote Pacepa, that the Russian GRU agency helped Saddam Hussein to destroy, hide, or transfer his chemical weapons prior to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. 'After all, Russia helped Saddam get his hands on them in the first place.'[13]

John Loftus, director of The Intelligence Summit, said in the November 16, 2007 issue of FrontPage Magazine that many documents from Iraq point to WMD being transferred to other countries such as Syria: 'As stated in more detail in my full report, the British, Ukrainian and American secret services all believed that the Russians had organized a last minute evacuation of CW [chemical] and BW [biological] stockpiles from Baghdad to Syria.'

His researchers allegedly found a document ordering the concealment of nuclear weapons equipment in storage facilities under the Euphrates River a few weeks before the invasion.[14]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WMD_conjecture_in_the_aftermath_of_the_2003_invasion_of_Iraq#Alleged_Russian_involvement
_____________

[13] http://web.archive.org/web/20110712102918/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2003/aug/20/20030820-081256-6822r/

[14] http://web.archive.org/web/20110810213451/http://archive.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=F715A709-2614-4EA5-967C-F6151F94A364

[Fred Hayek]

The missile can have a trajectory that is for the most part ballistic, but the guidance does not end once the boost phase is over. Post boost phase guidance can range anywhere from a MIRV bus making course changes as it releases individual warheads (Trident, Minuteman III, SS-18) to terminal guidance (Pershing II). The Iskander may have such, possibly using the GLONASS (Soviet/Russian version of our GPS).