Russia Planning Maneuvers of its Nuclear Forces Next Month

VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer | January 30, 2004 | VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer

[Patriot1998]

01-30) 10:32 PST MOSCOW (AP) --

Russia's nuclear forces reportedly are preparing their largest maneuvers in two decades, an exercise involving the test-firing of missiles and flights by dozens of bombers in a massive simulation of an all-out nuclear war.

President Vladimir Putin is expected to personally oversee the maneuvers, which are apparently aimed at demonstrating the revival of the nation's military might and come ahead of Russian elections in March.

The business newspaper Kommersant said the exercise was set for mid-February and would closely resemble a 1982 Soviet exercise dubbed the "seven-hour nuclear war" that put the West on edge.

Official comments on the upcoming exercise have been sketchy. The chief of Russia's Strategic Missile Forces, Col.-Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov, was quoted by the Interfax-Military News Agency as saying the planned maneuvers would involve several launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles in various regions of Russia, but he wouldn't give further details.

A Defense Ministry spokesman refused to comment on the reports. The Russian military typically says little about upcoming exercises.

Kommersant said the maneuvers would involve Tu-160 strategic bombers test-firing cruise missiles over the northern Atlantic. Analysts describe such an exercise as an imitation of a nuclear attack on the United States.

Other groups of bombers will fly over Russia's Arctic regions and test-fire missiles at a southern range near the Caspian Sea, the newspaper said.

As part of the exercise, the military is planning to conduct several launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles, including one from a Russian nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea, the Kommersant report said.

The military also plans to launch military satellites from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and the Plesetsk launch pad in northern Russia -- a simulation of the replacement of satellites lost in action, Kommersant said.

Russia's system warning of an enemy missile attack and a missile defense system protecting Moscow will also be involved in the exercise, it added.

Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent military analyst, said the military has regularly held nuclear exercises that were timed to coincide with the annual test-firing of aging Soviet-built missiles.

"It has been a routine affair, but it can be expanded if they want a show," he said.

Ivan Safranchuk, head of the Moscow office of the Center for Defense Information, a Washington-based think-tank, said the maneuvers would further strengthen Putin's popularity ahead of the March 14 presidential election he is expected to win easily.

Putin has repeatedly pledged to rebuild Russia's military might and restore pride to the demoralized service. When he ran for his first term in 2000, he flew as a second pilot in a fighter jet and later donned naval officer's garb on a visit to a nuclear submarine -- images that played well with many voters who are nostalgic for Soviet global power and military prestige.

"This exercise will make a great show, with Putin receiving reports from military commanders," Safranchuk told The Associated Press.

Kommersant said Moscow had notified Washington about the exercise, describing it as part of efforts to fend off terror threats even though it imitates the Cold War scenario of an all-out war.

"The exercise follows the old scenario, and casting it as anti-terror is absurd," Safranchuk said.

Putin's support for the United States following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks bolstered relations with Washington and helped broker a new U.S.-Russian nuclear arms reduction deal and a Russia-NATO partnership agreement in 2002.

But the U.S.-Russian honeymoon has soured lately over Moscow's criticism of the war in Iraq , U.S. concerns about authoritarian trends in the Kremlin's domestic policy, and Russia's perceived attempts to assert its authority over ex-Soviet neighbors.

[Patriot1998]

I wonder Why?

[Zipporah]

I have a pretty good idea..

[Zipporah]

BTW where is the link to the story?

[ambrose]

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040130_1122.html

[Dan Evans]

I sure am glad the cold war is over.

[middie]

Their exercise will be a treasure trove of information for our intelligence listening resources. We'll discover frequencies, Order of Battle, TO&E, location and movement sequence of units, recall orders, radar signatures, aircraft and tactical unit communications priorities, and several more etc. If they don't exercise we can't hear a whole lot of their chatter or read much of their "mail."

The intell folks would like them to exercise every day.

[Dan Evans]

Does anyone remember how we paid the dirt poor Russians billions of dollars to help them dismantle their nuclear capability?

[Soylent Democrats]

Putin is a maniacal lunatic. He's been trusted, but not verified. While this is only a bold demonstration, I hope our "Brilliant Pebbles" and SDI programs can be salvaged, as well as anything else DARPA has cooked-up for asymmetrical and unconventional warfare. President Ronald Reagan was right.

[Rebelbase]

What me worry?

"There are no Russian missiles pointed at any American children tonight for the first time since the dawn of the nuclear age."
--President Clinton, Speech to the People of the Springfield Area, Springfield, Massachusetts, November 3, 1996.

"With Russia, we dramatically cut nuclear arsenals and we stopped targeting each other's citizens."
--President Clinton, State of the Union Address, February 4, 1997.

"Today, there is not a single Russian missile pointed at America's children."
--President Clinton, address to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, lobbying for the CTBT, February 3, 1998.

[Mr. Mojo]

Kommersant said the maneuvers would involve Tu-160 strategic bombers test-firing cruise missiles over the northern Atlantic. Analysts describe such an exercise as an imitation of a nuclear attack on the United States.

Isn't it cool that we're now "allies?"

[Mr. Mojo]

Ivan Safranchuk, head of the Moscow office of the Center for Defense Information, a Washington-based think-tank, said the maneuvers would further strengthen Putin's popularity

lol.....same old Russians. Parade some tanks and ICBM's down Red Square, conduct some "all-out-war with the U.S." exercises, and the folks just eat it up.

[Righty1]

What pisses me off is that even with millions of red chi's massed on their poorly protected borders the dumb assed rooskies think that the U.S. is their enemy! Why don't they just bomb the huns and frogs to get it out of their systems?

[bonesmccoy]

dang... I guess we better go buy more launch capacity on those Russian rockets .... (head smack)

[JSteff]

All we did was dismantle and clean up their old weapons. We did not destroy any thing they wanted or that was worthwhile for their forces to keep.

That being said. We got something more out of it... I don't know what, but it was a cover for something more. We are not good at people intel but we are VERY good at tech intel.

[JSteff]

"I hope our "Brilliant Pebbles" and SDI programs can be salvaged, as well as anything else DARPA has cooked-up for asymmetrical and unconventional warfare."

Do you really think we killed them all off? We have a huge budget that no one can really track. How do you think we were able to pick up missle defense so quick after Bush came in?

It never really, totally, ended. (Thank goodness.)

[Ben Bolt]

I wonder why ( Not sincerely ) why the cold war title in the year ' 04 ?

[Ben Bolt]

Are you connected in real time ?

[Dan Evans]

All we did was dismantle and clean up their old weapons. We did not destroy any thing they wanted or that was worthwhile for their forces to keep.

That doesn't seem very intelligent.

We are not good at people intel but we are VERY good at tech intel.

I've heard that our spy satellites are so good they can read the license plate on fake military vehicles.

[Bobby777]

Does anyone remember how we paid the dirt poor Russians billions of dollars to help them dismantle their nuclear capability?

yes, old SS-18 "Satan"'s replaced with mobile SS-27 TOPOL M's ... upgraded capability from SS-25 TOPOL

[Bobby777]

yes, a lot of old weapons that were reaching the end of their life were destroyed ...