May 19, 2006 :: BBC Worldwide Monitoring :: News
Yuri Solomonov, chief designer of the Topol-M (SS-27) ICBM and Bulava (SS-NX-30) SLBM, announced today that Russia may convert some ICBMs to non-nuclear warheads. Speaking at a meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ presidium in Moscow, Solomonov noted that in 2003 the U.S. transformed Ohio-class SSBNs into non-nuclear submarines, and argued that Russia should embrace the same approach. “Otherwise, an escalation in a conflict may result in destroying the current civilization,” he said. Solomonov added that a non-nuclear missile would be capable of inflicting the same damage as the Chernobyl accident.
Solomonov’s statements clashed with those of General Yuri Baluyevsky, chief of staff of the Russian Armed Forces, who on Thursday strongly criticized U.S. plans to use conventional warheads on ICBMs, claiming that they could endanger world stability. “It is a matter of international law, and without addressing it properly there can be no stability in the world,” he said. On May 11, Sergei Sobyanin, chief of staff to Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressed his concern as well, claiming that the U.S. is making an “irresponsible decision” that could provoke an inappropriate response from another nuclear power. (Article)
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