...President Vladimir Putin, who watched the massive exercise while decked out in naval officer's garb aboard a nuclear submarine.
Suh-weet!
Posted on 02/17/2004 12:07:05 PM PST by PureSolace
Putin Watches As Missile Launch Fails
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV The Associated Press Tuesday, February 17, 2004; 2:45 PM
MOSCOW - A technical glitch thwarted the launch of Russian ballistic missiles in the Barents Sea on Tuesday during naval maneuvers overseen by President Vladimir Putin, who watched the massive exercise while decked out in naval officer's garb aboard a nuclear submarine.
The failed launch - part of an exercise described as the largest show of Russian military might in more than 20 years - marred an event apparently aimed at playing up Putin's image as a leader attempting to restore the country's military power and global clout.
Putin, who is expected to easily win the presidential election March 14, went to the Barents Sea on board the giant Arkhangelsk submarine to observe maneuvers set to involve numerous missile launches and flights of strategic bombers.
But the ambitious exercise hit a snag when a ballistic missile - a missile that is launched on a high-arch trajectory to hit a designated target - failed to blast off as scheduled from another submarine, the Novomoskovsk, a government official said on condition of anonymity. The official said the automatic safety system blocked the launch for unspecified reasons.
A Defense Ministry spokesman refused to comment. And Russian state-run television channels, which are lavishly covering the daily activities of Putin ahead of the election, did not report the failed launch.
But the event became a hot topic for Russian analysts and military figures.
"The failed launch has shown the gap between the real condition of the Russian military and the ambitions and muscle-flexing of the Russian leadership," said Yevgeny Volk, the head of the Heritage Foundation's Moscow office.
Retired Capt. Igor Kurdin, who in the early 1990s served as captain of the Novomoskovsk, said a technical problem or a crew mistake might have caused the failure.
"It's very annoying that it happened in front of the commander in chief," Kurdin, who did not witness the exercise, told The Associated Press. "I'm sure that the crew was getting ready for the launch very thoroughly in such circumstances."
There were differing accounts of what happened.
The Interfax and ITAR-Tass news agencies said the Novomoskovsk had been scheduled to launch two RSM-54 missiles in succession at a practice target on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East.
They quoted an unidentified Northern Fleet officer as saying a satellite signal blocked the missile launch from Novomoskovsk, a Delta IV-class submarine.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
everyone, sing with me now... CIA! CIA! CCCC IIII AAAA! :)
Back in the old days, their careers would be the last thing they'd be worried about, more like they would be worrying about getting a bullet in the brain.
Is that to the tune of "YMCA?"
This wouldn't have happened if the Vilnius Schoolmaster, Marko Ramius (God rest his soul!), was still around!
...President Vladimir Putin, who watched the massive exercise while decked out in naval officer's garb aboard a nuclear submarine.
Suh-weet!
Good image. I would like to see the same one on a Chinese launch.
During 1939, England and France were trying to get Russia (then the Soviet Union headed up by the butcher Josef Stalin) on board with a pact to defend Poland against Nazi aggression. However, Poland would not allow for Russian troops to enter its country even if it was to protect them against the Nazi Army. So the pact fell apart and Russia ended up signing a 25-year non-aggression pact with the Nazis (and we all know how that turned out).
Anyway, that wasn't the only reason Russia did not enter into the pact with England and France. When Stalin asked how many divisions they would be able to put up in defense of Poland, France answered one hundred and England (then under the contemptible appeaser Chamberlain) answered "two now and maybe two later."
"Two now and maybe two later, eh" Stalin snarled back. "Do you have any idea how many divisions Russia would need to put in the field if it went to war with Germany? Three Hundred and Fifty."
That entire WW2 episode is very interesting to read about.
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