Putin Inspects Russia's Latest Nuke Missiles
Pastor Dale Morgan
Putin Inspects Russia's Latest Nuke Missiles*
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
The Associated Press
Thursday, December 14, 2006; 4:04 PM
MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin on Thursday inspected Russia's
top-of-the line intercontinental ballistic missiles, hailing their
ability to penetrate prospective missile defenses.
Putin flew by helicopter to a forested area near Teikovo, a small town
about 150 miles northeast of Moscow, to visit a unit of newly deployed
Topol-M missiles mounted on mobile launchers.
After watching the new missiles, Putin said their deployment was a
"serious step forward in strengthening Russia's defense capability."
"It has a stronger survivability, faster launch and an ability to
penetrate any prospective missile defense," Putin said of the new weapon
in televised remarks.
Speaking on a trip to the northern Plesetsk cosmodrome later Thursday,
Putin described the Topol-M as a "21st century weapon" and said that it
would ensure a "long-term efficiency of Russia's nuclear forces," the
ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
The Topol-M missiles, capable of hitting targets more than 6,000 miles
away, have so far been deployed only in silos. The new version, which is
mounted on a heavy off-road vehicle, makes it harder for an enemy to
track it down.
"For the near future, Topol-M will have no rivals in the world,"
Strategic Missile Forces chief Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov said on state
Rossiya television.
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov had said earlier this year that Russia's
Strategic Missile Forces would get 69 Topol-M missiles by 2015; Russia
so far has deployed over 40 silo-based Topol-Ms.
The Topol-M's chief designer, Yuri Solomonov, said earlier this year
that the missile drops its engines at a significantly lower altitude
than earlier designs, making it hard for an enemy early warning system
to detect the launch. He added that his design also ensured that
warheads and decoys closely resembled each other in flight, making it
extremely difficult for a foe to select the real target from a multitude
of false ones.
Russian officials said that Topol-M and the Bulava missile, which is
being developed for the navy, will form the core of Russian nuclear
deterrent forces.
Washington withdrew in 2002 from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
in order to deploy a national missile defense shield _ a move opposed by
Russia, which described the it as destabilizing and harmful for global
security.
Moscow has also bristled at NATO's eastward expansion and warned that
the redeployment of U.S. forces closer to Russian borders threatened its
security. It particularly criticized U.S. plans to deploy its missile
defense components in Eastern Europe, describing it as a hostile move.
Amid increasingly strained ties with the United States, Putin has said
Russia needs a strong military to resist foreign pressure. Windfall oil
revenues over recent years have allowed Putin's government to increase
weapons purchases and fund the development of new weapons.