February 18, 2004 :: LA Times :: News
In the midst of extensive strategic nuclear war exercises, President Putin today announced to reporters that Russia would be getting new strategic weapons, and would be upgrading its missile defense system, plans for which he said have been in the making for over a dozen years. Putin’s comments come after he watched the launch of a military satellite at the Plesetsk cosmodrome—-the purpose of which is to simulate launching satellites during a nuclear war to replace those lost in the conflict.
The Los Angeles Times’ wording to describe Russia’s “possible effort to develop a Russian missile defense system” is deceptive, of course. Russia has maintained the Soviet-era missile defense system, which has now been in place for decades around Moscow. Russia will likely be advancing and exapanding its already deployed systems, as they have continued to do over the years.
As for Russia’s new offensive strategic weapons, Putin did not elaborate, but said that they would be “capable to hit targets deep inside continents at hypersonic speed and change the altitude and direction of their flight,” according to the Russian Interfax news agency. Although Putin claimed that these efforts were not aimed at the U.S., one may be reasonably sure this is not the case. The U.S. withdrawal from the ABM Treaty and the plans to deploy a limited missile defense system this year make it more than probable that the U.S. is at least among the new threats Putin spoke of the need to counter. Such weapons, likely the reentry vehicles for nuclear warheads, which are able to “change the altitude and direction of their flight” by means of things such as “penetration aids,” are primarily of interest only to overcome missile defenses—such as the hit-to-kill defenses the U.S. will be deploying in 2004. Currently, Putin noted, “No country in the world has such kind of systems.”
Such a “maneuverable warhead” would be capable of changing directions during reentry to confuse terminal phase defenses. Of course, the possible merits of such technology should be seen as another reason to pursue boost-phase defense, during the missile’s vulnerable ascent period, before any countermeasures can be deployed. Aviation Week & Space Technology reported on Monday that that Russia had conducted a second successful test of a new warhead for the advanced SS-27 ICBM, which is said to be powered by a supersonic combustion ramjet.
The Los Angeles Times quotes Arms Control Association Executive Director Daryl Kimball, saying that Putin’s announcement signals a Russian intent to continue to engage in a post-Cold War arms race with the United States. “This illustrates that the U.S. and Russia both continue to develop ever more modern and deadly ballistic missile systems, and the Cold War continues, despite the friendly words from Putin.” Such an assessment points to the strategic clarity which must be required as the United States begins to deploy a limited missile defense system this year. Russia is continuing to test and modernize its own nuclear forces, and are willing to pursue both offensive and defensive measures. With this in mind, the U.S. must not only boldly deploy those limited systems slated for this year, but be prepared to meet and match the threat from wherever it comes: not only from rogue nations, but from China and Russia as well. The Bush administration has outlined plans by which the 2004 system will “evolve.” It is to these threats that evolution must be directed.
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