Posted on 05/12/2002 11:35:05 PM PDT by spetznaz
Morningstar: "Russia is carrying out some military modernization programs such as developing the Topol-M, which is a new single-warhead ICBM that is still undergoing testing; this missile is different from the SS-25 Topol only in that it is silo based as opposed to road-mobile. Mr. Waller fails to note that this modernization is permitted under START I and START II."
Response: The State Department does not dispute the contention, "U.S. [CTR] aid has helped dismantle mostly obsolete military equipment Moscow wanted to scrap anyway." Why, then, does Mr. Morningstar minimize the extent of modernization with the qualifier, "some"? Given its severe financial straits and Western bailouts, Russian military modernization is quite significant.
The State Department's description of the Topol-M is inaccurate. According to the authoritative Jane's Intelligence Review, the Topol-M is not, as the State Department says, "different from the SS-25 Topol only in that it is silo-based as opposed to road-mobile." Rather, according to JIR, "the system is not limited to silos and can be adapted to the standard mobile launcher as well." It has several qualitative differences, too, including a lifespan that is 50 percent longer than the SS-25 (fifteen versus ten years). Its larger diameter allows it to carry a more powerful nuclear warhead and a new first-stage engine. These and other features reportedly enable the Topol-M to penetrate certain American defenses against incoming missiles: "Russian accounts have stressed the invulnerability of the new missile to anti-ballistic missile defences."58 Nevertheless, START I legalisms do not consider the Topol-M a "new type" of ICBM.59
In addition to the Topol-M, which was first test-launched in late 1994,60 Russia unveiled in 1995 a new tactical nuclear missile, which NATO has nicknamed SS-X-26 or "Son of 'Scud.'"61 At least two next-generation "stealth" strategic cruise missiles, the Kh-101 and Kh-SD, are under development.62 Also being developed, according to former Defense Secretary William Perry, is new generation submarine-launched ballistic missile to replace the SS-N-20;63 other sources identify it as the R-39 UTTKh (NATO designation: SS-NX-28) to be based aboard a more advanced ballistic missile-firing submarine.64 Existing Typhoon strategic missile subs have been retrofitted to launch an upgraded SLBM, and Russian authorities have announced construction of the new, more advanced strategic ballistic missile submarine, the Boreas class, to replace the Typhoon. The keel-laying ceremony for the first Boreas-class vessel, the Yuri Dolgoruki, was scheduled for 26 October 1996.65 (Ironically, the ceremony, in the shipyards of Severodvinsk, was scheduled eight days after Defense Secretary Perry visited the same port to hail the dismantlement of an obsolete Yankee-class submarine with CTR funds. Yet Perry said nothing about the Boreas-class replacements.)66 The State Department has no comment about the new multi-role strategic bomber, the Sukhoi-T-60S, under development, or the next-generation nuclear-capable cruise missiles to be deployed on the strategic bomber fleet.67 Nor is there any comment on Atomic Energy Minister Viktor Mikhailov's June 1995 revelation, reported in "To Russia, With Cash," that his ministry was building a new generation of nuclear warheads.68
True, but with the right training, even a bad designed plane with a highly skilled pilot can wreak havoc on an ill-prepared foe - and to survive for another day is the goal. Airman Osborne and Airman Wang proved that last year, as Airman Osborne's hours in the left seat dwarfed the hours Airman Wang spent off the ground....
This is only a prototype. It is no more in development then the F22.
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.