June 2, 2005 :: BBC Worldwide Monitoring :: News
Russia will take retaliatory steps if any country deploys weapons in space, threatened Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on Thursday. As quoted by Russian news agencies, Ivanov emphasized that Russia is “categorically against the militarization of space,” and that “if some state begins to realize such plans, then we doubtless will take adequate retaliatory measures.” Ivanov added that Russia has plans to create a new missile system using SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missiles that will be able to launch multiple space vehicles into orbit using a single booster.
Despite Ivanov’s rhetoric, there is reason to doubt whether Russia actually has the capability to take retaliatory steps against the U.S. in space. As Pavel Podvig, author of Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces, recently suggests, Russia “has lost its capability to carry out serious development projects in military space and is very unlikely to recover it.” If Podvig is correct, the U.S. need not worry about such an arms race. (Article)
» May 20, 2005: Podvig on Russian Space Capability
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