Two More Russian Missile Tests in 2004
November 9, 2004 :: Interfax :: News
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announced today, during a meeting with Russian President Putin, that Russia will conduct an additional two launches of ballistic missiles in 2004, of the silo-launched SS-18 (RS-20) heavy missile, and of the mobile Topol-M, the last test of the Topol-M before it is more fully adopted for service.
At the meeting, Ivanov apparently referred to the SS-18 by its Western name, “Satan,” prompting Putin to call the missiles by the Russian name, saying, “Please use our own names, there is no need to say Satan and the like,” and “Let those people over there who have objections use the NATO terminology,” according to press reports. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia
» Missile details: SS-18 Mod 4, SS-27
Large, Unspecified Missile Contract for Siberia Plant
November 3, 2004 :: RIA-Novosti :: News
The RIA Novosti news agency reports that the Siberian Krasnoyarsk Machine-building Works, known as Krasmash, factory recently received a large but unspecified contract for work related to missiles. Anatoliy Perminov, head of Russian Federal Space Agency, described the contract as “a very substantial state order to do with the topic of missiles” for 2005.
For years, Krasnoyarsk was the location of the Soviet Union’s ballistic missile defense radar, the existence of which was long denied by the Evil Empire, and which the Soviets did not admit was a flagrant violation of the ABM Treaty until 1989. (Article, Link)
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India Launches Brahmos
November 3, 2004 :: News
India test-fired a supersonic cruise missile Wednesday, launching it from an Indian destroyer near the eastern coast of Orissa. The Brahmos cruise missile, which has been developed jointly by India and Russia, is said to have a range of 290 kilometers with a conventional warhead—weighing, according to various reports, 200 or 300kg—and was designed to be launched from ships, submarines or planes. Today’s test reportedly took place from a destroyer, the INS Rajput, from the Bay of Bengal. (More »»»)
» More stories on: Cruise Missiles, India, Russia, Testing - Foreign
» Cruise missile details: BrahMos PJ-10, BrahMos SSC-5
Russia Launches Two Missiles
November 2, 2004 :: News
While America was electing a president, Russia today tested two ballistic missiles, symbols of its status as a major power capable of threatening the West. The mobile land-based SS-25 (Topol) missile was launched from the Pletesk cosmodrome located some 200 miles northeast of St. Petersburg, and traveled to the missile range on the far eastern Kamchatka peninsula. The SS-N-18 (R-29R) missile was launched from a submarine of the Pacific Fleet, the Project 667BDR (Delta III)-class St. George the Victor, in the Sea of Okhotsk (next to the Kamchatka peninsula). (More »»»)
» Podvig on missile launches
» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-25, SS-N-18 Mod 1, SS-N-18 Mod 3
Solomonov Urges Funding for New Missiles, Pledges Completion of Topol-M Tests
November 1, 2004 :: Interfax :: News
Yury Solomonov, head of the Moscow-based Heat Technology Institute—an organization known for its specialization of designing missiles to overcome missile defenses—recently called on the Russian government to fully fund the up-and-coming advanced submarine-based ballistic missile, the SS-N-30 or Bulava, and its land-based equivalent, the Topol-M. The former has yet to be test launched; the latter has undergone a number of tests, and a number of the Topol-Ms are already deployed. It is believed that the two missiles will together form the mainstay of Russia’s military arsenal for the coming decades, replacing older missiles based on land and sea.
Solomonov also commented that production of the Topol-Ms had temporarily twice come to a halt in the past year due to insufficient funding.
On October 29 Solomonov pledged that the tests of the Topol-M would be completed this year, with perhaps another launch in December. Four Topol-Ms are also scheduled to be deployed in December 2004, and another ten in 2005-2006. (Link)
» Nov. 1: Interfax: Solomonov urges Bulava funding
» Nov. 1: Moscow Times: Topol M production twice came to stop
» Oct. 29: Interfax: Topol M testing to be completed in 2004
» More stories on: Russia
» Missile details: SS-27, SS-NX-30
Status of Russian Strategic Forces
October 20, 2004 :: News
Pavel Podvig, editor of Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces, reports that exchange data under the START Treaty was released earlier this month, updating the number and type of Russia’s deployed ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads. Currently, Russia is said to have some 874 “delivery platforms,” fielding some 3885 large, strategic, nuclear warheads.
Some 315 SS-25 (Topol) road-mobile missiles are now deployed, though their numbers will be diminishing. Some 15 SS-24 rail-mobile missiles are said to have been decommissioned in the past year, as well as a few “heavy” SS-18s.
While the older missiles are phased out, newer ones replace them. Most importantly the new and advanced SS-27 (Topol-M) missiles continue to be deployed in silos. Four SS-27s are expected to be deployed in December 2004, and an additional ten in 2005-2006. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia
» Missile details: SS-18 Mod 4, SS-24, SS-25, SS-27
Iran Again Tests Shahab-3
October 20, 2004 :: AFP :: News
Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani announced that Iran had today again tested an upgraded version of its Shahab-3 ballistic missile, in the presence of observers. Shamkhani would not comment on the specific range or the location of the test, but Iran has previously claimed that the “strategic” missile has a range of 2,000km; Iran’s IRNA news agency last month quoted former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani that Iran possessed that capability. Such a range not only threatens Israel, but also U.S. bases in the region and parts of Europe. Rafsanjani also commented at the time, “Experts know that a country that possesses this [range] can obtain all subsequent stages in missile production.”
On October 7, Nasser Maleki, the deputy director of Iran’s aerospace industry organization, commented that “Very certainly we are going to improve our Shahab-3 and all of our other missiles.”
Iran’s ballistic missile development has been steady, and not without foreign help. The recent upgrades to the Shahab-3 are believed to be due in part to Chinese assistance, including a more accurate guidance system and an improved warhead more suited to carryign chemical weapons. Hours after today’s test, the Moscow News carried a piece boasting that the Iranian Shahab-3, and the North Korean No-Dong from which it was partly derived, both employ Russian missile technology. (Article, Link)
» Iran’s Revolutionary Guard acquiring greater control
» Oct. 20: Moscow News: Russian missile tech used for Iranian, North Korean advances
» More stories on: Iran, North Korea, Proliferation, Russia, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: Shahab-3, Shahab-4
General: Russia, U.S. Geopolitical Adversaries
October 18, 2004
The Russian Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper carries an article describing how Russia suspects, despite disavowals by the United States, that the missile defense system currently being deployed will eventually be used as a defense against Russian missiles. Russia’s concern that the United States would try to defend itself stems from their desire to retain the strategic stranglehold which Russia’s offensive nuclear arsenal provides, over the exercise of American power. Russia’s position could be diminished, if the United States chooses to abandon the policy of vulnerability as a means to achieve security.
If only Russia’s paranoia were well-placed; if only it were true that the defenses which are currently being deployed will at some later date, constitute a larger, and indeed “strategic defense.” This is palpably not the case with the limited capabilities now being deployed, but Russia is concerned that it might someday take place. There is much reason to believe that the defenses are not on track, at least in any timely sense, of becoming strategically relevant.
Russia’s concern stems from a natural, perhaps correct, assessment that Russia and the United States are not friends or allies, but rivals. A statement by Russian Colonel General Leonid Ivashov is particularly noteworthy: “We remain for the United States a geopolitical rival and, incidentally, it may boldly be asserted, an adversary.” (Link)
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China to Purchase Additional S-300 Interceptors
October 13, 2004 :: Jane's Information Group :: News
China is proceeding with the planned purchase of 4-8 battalions of S-300 systems from Russia, reports Jane’s. The S-300 (SA-10/20) purchase confirms an earlier report noted here over a month ago. It is unclear whether the purchase would be the S-300PMU1 or the more advanced S-300PMU2, which has a longer range missile and better radar. (Link)
» Aug. 12: Russia ships China four S-300PMU1 systems
» More stories on: China, Chinese Missile Defenses, Russia, Russian Missile Defenses
» Missile system details for: S-300P (SA-10 Grumble)
Iskander (SS-X-26) to be Deployed in 2005
October 13, 2004 :: Jane's Information Group :: News
Russia will likely deploy an Iskander missile brigade in 2005, according to a recent report in the October edition of Janes Missiles and Rockets. The Iskander, also known as “Tender,” is apparently for Russian use, as distinct from the Iskander E, for foreign export. The Russian version may have a range of 400km, a 480kg payload capacity, whereas the export version has a reported maximum range of 280km. A prominent feature of the Iskander missiles is their ability to be retargeted during flight, permitting greater accuracy. (Link)
» Picture of Iskander
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» Missile details: SS-26
