Posted on 03/01/2005 7:07:17 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia will develop missiles impervious to any defense, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Tuesday in an apparent allusion the nascent U.S. missile defense system.
A year ago, President Vladimir Putin said Russia could build unrivaled new strategic weapons, and in November he said it is developing a new nuclear missile system unlike any weapon other countries have or could come up with in the near future.
Ivanov suggested the weapons would be based on the mobile version of the Russian Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missiles and on a new sea-based system, the Bulava, according to Interfax news agency.
"There is not and will not be any defense against these missiles," he said, according to Interfax.
The Topol-M can hit targets more than 6,000 miles away, and has been in silos since 1998, with about 40 on duty now, according to military officials. Military officials have said they plan to begin deploying the mobile version this year.
Ivanov said the missiles would be for defense and not be intended for use against any country, but he added that "Russia is stretched across 10 times zones, we have many neighbors, and not all of them are as predictable as European states," according to Interfax.
In December, Putin encouraged the Defense Ministry to keep up production of new strategic missile systems, a process slowed in the past by a shortage of funds.
"Russia will ... remain a major nuclear power," Ivanov said, according to Interfax. "But we will not bake missiles like pies. Their quantity should be such that it allows for the provision of our own security in any potential development of the international situation."
Russia opposed Washington's withdrawal in 2002 from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in order to deploy a national missile defense shield, saying the 30-year-old U.S.-Soviet pact was a key element of international security.
Russian officials subsequently tempered their criticism. Putin said it was a "mistake" that would hurt global security but not threaten Russia.
The ABM treaty banned missile defense systems on the assumption that the fear of retaliation would prevent each nation from launching a first strike - a strategy known as mutually assured destruction.
The Bush administration has said its prospective missile defense system would be aimed against potential missile threats from nations such as Iraq or North Korea, and would be unable to fend off a massive nuclear strike Russia is capable of launching.
--
they assume they understand our technologies well enough to build such a missile. The damned thing could be stealth and transparent and we could still kill it.
Weren't we helping them economically a few years ago?
Where did that money go, anyway?
I agree...they have some very sharp scientists.
Drinking coffee in one spot for two hours...don't think so.
First let's make sure the Chinese don't steal the technology, then we'll worry about the Russians.
That would be Walter Christie, an American. The T-34 was a slightly modified Christie design with a French (Hispano-Suiza) diesel engine. The Christie variant that the US made was significantly different because the Army insisted on a number of changes - which turned out to be a really bad idea. Oh well.
LOLOLOLOLOL
Sorry, the country that made the Fiat under license was Yugoslavia, not Russia. Slight but important difference. The best car the Russians made was the ZIL limousine.
ROFL!
Pffft! Yeah....vast superior russian technology yet they had to wait in lines for days for toilet paper and bread a few years ago......WE'RE SOOOOO SCARED!
YESSS! I haven't seen RoboSaurus since the Miramar Airshow back in like '92! I had mixed feelings as I watched him chew up an A-4 Skyhawk, BBQing the remains with his nostril-flames. When he's done, he just folds up and becomes a truck-trailer. Only in AMERICA!
Don't worry, W.Bush looked into his soul... Many countries are just too naive about Russia.
Rhetorical reiteration.
I'd like to point out that if Vlad's telling the truth, then he had no cause to get upset that president Bush trashed the ABM treaty to work on missile defense, because Russia had to have been working on this wondernuke in violation of the treaty all along. These things don't just pop up out of thin air. He was therefore lying.
I don't doubt they can make missiles we can't initially target, but I don't believe it will stay that way.
We are too technically great to not find a way to destroy such weapons once launched.
And/or Iran?
Russia will develop missiles impervious to any defense, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Tuesday
Ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha. They have rotting nuclear submarines that they don't know how to get rid of, and they say they can build this top-notch missle? ha ha ha.
You know who had the first ICBMs?
(Eskimos)
When Putin dies (hopefully not of old age), I want to be in the US delegation, because I want to urinate on the coffin as they drop it into the grave.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.