Franks on Need to Continue Robust Missile Defense Efforts
May 31, 2007 :: The Hill's Congress Blog :: Analysis
Writing in The Hill, Representative Trent Franks examines Russia's position on missile defense, and suggests it is hypocritical. On the one hand, Russia recently tested a new and highly advanced missile that is capable of penetrating any missile defense system. The missile's payload was said to be necessary "in terms of defense and security Russia can look calmly to its future." Russia nevertheless vehemently opposes a limited defensive plan by the U.S. to assure its security. Representative Franks suggests it is unfortunate that Russia can seek new offensive weaponry to assure its security, but the U.S. may not develop defensive systems to provide for its security. "Russia is not the only country that should be able to 'look calmly to the future.'" (Article, Link)
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Russia Tests Iskander-M
May 30, 2007 :: Itar-Tass :: News
A new version of the Russian Iskander-M mobile ballistic missile was successfully tested at the Kapustin Yar site in the Astrakhan Region, reports Itar-Tass. The missile was in flight for 24 minutes. The missile's deviation from the expected path was no greater than 30 meters despite strong winds and air temperatures of over 40 degrees. One journalist reported that "three minutes thirty seconds after the launch the missile rose to an altitude of 100 meters and its speed at the moment was 250 meters per second." The maximum speed of the new missile is 257 meters per second, with a range of 300 kilometers. Those Iskanders for export are said to have less of a range than those for Russian forces. First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdiukov monitored the launch. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Russia, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-26
Russia Tests RS-24 ICBM
May 29, 2007 :: The Guardian :: News
Russia today tested what it described as a new intercontinental ballistic missile system, capable of carrying multiple independent warheads and penetrating any defense system. The missile, designated as the RS-24, was fired at 2:20 p.m. from a mobile launcher at the northwestern Plesetsk Cosmodrome. It traveled 6,000 miles to the Kamchatka Peninsula. The test was called successful, and the missile's multiple re-entry vehicles landed on target on the Kura testing range, the Strategic Missile Forces said in a statement. Itar-Tass quoted a Russian press release saying that, together with the Topol-M (SS-27, RS-12-M) the new missile system will provide the backbone of Russia’s missile forces beginning in 2008, as construction intensifies and aging Ukrainian made RS-18s and RS-20s (known in the West as the SS-19 Stiletto and the SS-18 Satan) are being retired.
The AFP quotes Ivan Safranchuk, head of the Center for Defense Information's Moscow office, as noting that "the main advantage is that this is a Russian rocket...The other multiple-warhead missiles were built in Ukraine. Before, there [were] no Russian-built multiple-warhead missiles." (Article, Link)
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Russian Early Warning Radar Installed at Lekhtusi
April 12, 2007 :: Itar-Tass :: News
Russia's Voronezh radar system at Lekhtusi in the Leningrad Region is capable of producing an early warning of missile attack, said Defense Minister Anatoly Serdiukov on Wednesday. "The radar is a sample of a fundamentally new generation of such systems of domestic manufacture," the Defense Ministry's press-service quotes Serdyukov as saying. "It has extremely high combat and operating parameters." (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Detection and Tracking, Russia
Russia Conducts A-135 Interceptor Test in Kazakhstan
December 5, 2006 :: RIA-Novosti :: News
Russia yesterday test-launched an interceptor from its A-135 missile defense system, reports RIA-Novosti. The test took place at the Sary-Shagan Test Range in Kazakhstan. According to Alexei Kuznetsov, a spokesman for the Russian Space Forces, “the launch was conducted to check the missile’s capabilities and prolong its operational life.” It is not immediately clear whether the missile tested was a short-range SH-08 “Gazelle” or the longer-range SH-11 “Gorgon.” Some reports indicate that the interceptor was of the same type as the one tested on November 29, 2004, which was believed to be the “Gazelle.” The A-135 system, located outside Moscow, consists of 68 “Gazelles,” 32 “Gorgons,” and a Pillbox multifunctional phased-array radar. (Article, Link)
» Press release by Russian Ministry of Defense, for interceptor test
» More stories on: Russia, Russian Missile Defenses, Testing - Foreign
» Missile system details for: System A-135
India and Russia Aim BrahMos at Export Market
November 30, 2006 :: Jane's Information Group :: News
India and Russia aim to export the new BrahMos supersonic cruise missile to Persian Gulf, East Asian, and Latin American countries, reports the January 1, 2007, issue of Jane’s Defence Industry. According to Indian Defense Minister Arackaparambil Kurian Antony, the BrahMos has drawn “considerable interest” in these countries and has “tremendous market potential.” Antony added that “the Indian and Russian governments will make a joint decision on the countries to whom the missile will be exported.”
The BrahMos, which derives its name from the Brahmaputra and Moscow rivers in India and Russia, is based on the earlier Russian design for the SS-N-26 (3M55 Oniks) cruise missile. In 1998, a joint venture was set up between the Indian Defense Ministry’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Russia’s Mashinostroyeniye Company. The two entities formed a company now known as Brahmos Aerospace, which would develop and manufacture the BrahMos PJ-10. In September 2006, Jane’s reported that the Indian Navy had started deploying the BrahMos missile on its frontline warships, with the DRDO also working on development of a submarine-launched version that could be ready in two to three years. Jane’s also reported that the Indian Air Force will integrate the BrahMos missile onto its Su-30MKI multirole fighters by December 2007. (Link)
» More stories on: Russia, Proliferation, India, Cruise Missiles
Kortunov: Russia Must Remain A Major Nuclear Power
November 29, 2006 :: RIA-Novosti :: News
Sergei Kortunov, chairman of Russia’s Foreign Policy Planning Committee, argues in RIA-Novosti that Russia must take steps to remain a major nuclear power for the foreseeable future. Kortunov expresses apprehension that the United States is attempting to defend itself against such weapons of mass destruction. “We must face the facts,” he states. “The United States will create the NMD system in the near future and completely dominate the world unless Russia’s nuclear policy adapts to the above-mentioned priorities.” The U.S. has also adopted “loose rules of engagement for using nuclear weapons in the event of a crisis and greater regional tensions,” and therefore Russia “has no choice but to remain a major nuclear power in the foreseeable future.” Kortunov specifies that Russia’s strategic nuclear forces in 2012 should include 600 ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles; ten to 12 ballistic missile submarines; 50 strategic bombers; and 1,000 to 1,200 nuclear warheads on intercontinental and submarine launched ballistic missiles. Such an arsenal would allow Moscow “to maintain its special strategic relationship with the United States and preserve its global political role,” Kortunov writes, adding that “we should study the possibility of resuming work on weapons and systems that can effectively breach or neutralize the U.S. ABM [anti-ballistic missile] system.” (Article, Link)
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Russia Places First Three Topol-M Mobile Launchers in Service
November 29, 2006 :: Interfax :: News
Interfax reports that the Teykovskaya Division of the Russian Strategic Missile Troops has placed the first three mobile launchers of the Topol-M (SS-27) intercontinental ballistic missile system on “experimental combat duty.” According to an unidentified source, “Vehicles ensuring combat duty and other hardware intended to ensure the functioning of the system were also brought into service with the missile division together with the launchers of the Topol-M system.” The Topol-M incorporates modern fuel and warhead designs and is allegedly invulnerable to modern anti-ballistic missile defenses. Russia plans to make the Topol-M its primary strategic weapon after the older SS-18 Satan (RS-20), SS-19 Stiletto (RS-18), and SS-25 Sickle (RS-12M Topol) ICBMS are eventually phased out and removed from service. (Article, Link)
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» Missile details: SS-N-6
Ivanov: U.S. BMD Meant to Weaken Russian Deterrance
November 29, 2006 :: AP :: News
U.S. plans to build a missile defense site in Eastern Europe are designed “to weaken Russia’s deterrence potential,” according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. U.S. officials are currently in negotiations with Poland and the Czech Republic, and have indicated that the site is intended to defend Europe against ballistic missiles from rogue states such as Iran and North Korea. Yet Ivanov was recently quoted by Belarus’ Soyuznoye Gosudarstvo magazine as stating, “We are told that this system is allegedly intended to intercept Iranian ballistic missiles. But Iran has no missiles of this class and is unlikely to obtain them in the foreseeable future.” He continued: “The U.S.-declared threat, which can allegedly be countered by the system under development, is only an attempt to cover up efforts to change strategic stability and to weaken Russia’s deterrence potential.” Ivanov also said that deployment of part of the U.S. system near the border of Belarus would do nothing to boost security in Europe. (Article, Link)
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Report: Russia Extends Lifetime of SS-18 ICBMs
November 11, 2006 :: Interfax :: News
Interfax reports that the Russia has extended the service lifetime of the SS-18 Satan (RS-20V) intercontinental ballistic missile. According to Colonel-General Nikolai Solovtsov, commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, the decision extends the original 15-year service lifetime of one of the world’s most powerful missiles to 25 years. The SS-18, which carries 10 individually targetable nuclear warheads, has been the heaviest missile in the Russian military’s inventory since its deployment began in the late 1980s. (Article, Link)
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» Missile details: SS-20
