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18 November 2004 |
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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103... |
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Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia's armed forces will shortly acquire unique missile technology, unmatched by any other nuclear power. Russia may face new threats, including international terrorism, if it allows its ``nuclear shield'' to weaken, Putin told top military commanders in Moscow today. ``We are not only conducting research and successful testing of the most modern nuclear missiles -- I'm sure they will be supplied to our armed forces in the near future,'' Putin said in remarks broadcast by Russian television NTV. ``These are systems and designs that no other nuclear powers have or will have in coming years,'' Putin said. Russia inherited the Soviet Union's nuclear arsenal, taking missiles from other ex-Soviet republics such as Ukraine and Kazakhstan. The arms race with the U.S. contributed to the economic crisis leading to the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. Analysts expressed doubts that Russia can afford any radical new nuclear program. ``Three weeks ago Putin said that he had a missile that could change its trajectory mid-course so that it would be more difficult to shoot down,'' Dale Herspring, political science professor at Kansas State University and a former U.S. naval officer and career diplomat, said by telephone from Kansas. ``My guess is that this is what he is talking about.'' `Poor Man's Military' Russia's finances are ``so slim and its military is in pathetic shape; now, at least, it can say that it has something,'' Herspring said. ``Nuclear missiles are a poor man's military.'' Though ``Putin is serious about reforming the military, he probably said this to show that Russia is coming back, it's a message that they're going to rebuild the forces and in the meantime they've got this,'' Herspring said. The army and law enforcement agencies, such as the police, prisons and the traffic police, are scheduled to receive a total of 946 billion rubles ($32 billion) next year, or 30.5 percent of the 2005 federal budget's expenditure. This level of spending doesn't seem compatible with a breakthrough in re-arming nuclear forces, another analyst said. ``Putin's statement looks rather political,'' said Ruslan Pukhov, at Moscow-based Center AST, which specializes in security studies. ``Most likely, Putin meant some research and design, conducted during Soviet times and dusted off recently.''
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18 November 2004 |
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http://www.theage.com.au/news/Breaking-News/Russia-touts-new-nuke-missile |
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Russia is developing a new nuclear missile system unlike any weapon held by other nuclear powers, President Vladimir Putin said. The move could serve as a signal to the United States as Washington pushes forward with a missile defence system. Putin gave no details about the new system and it was unclear whether Russia's cash-strapped armed forces could even afford an expensive new weapon. But he told the top leadership of Russia's armed forces that the system could be deployed soon. "We are not only conducting research and successful tests on state-of-the-art nuclear missile systems, but I am convinced that these systems will appear in the near future," he said. "Moreover, they will be systems, weapons that not a single other nuclear power has, or will have, in the near future." ITAR-Tass indicated the new system could be a mobile version of the Topol-M ballistic missiles, which have been deployed in silos since 1998. But Alexander Pikayev, a senior analyst with Moscow's Institute for Global Economy and International Relations, said Putin seemed to be referring to the new Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile, a solid fuel missile that underwent its first test in September. Russian officials said earlier that the Bulava could be both a sea-based and land-based version and could be equipped with warheads capable of penetrating missile defence, he said. "Putin apparently wanted to boast the success of his military reform effort ... to both the military and the broad public," Pikayev told The Associated Press. "His statement also intended to show that Russia is regaining its status as a great power which can't be ignored." If the Bulava proves capable, it would show that Russia has succeeded in modernizing its missile forces despite the shortage of funds, he said. "It will ring the bell for the Americans, forcing Washington to reassess its estimates," Pikayev said. Putin has made clear that increased funding for and reforms of Russia's armed forces, which declined after the breakup of the Soviet Union, were a priority. In the past year, Russian defence officials have also made several announcements about new weapons. Colonel General Yuri Baluyevsky, currently chief of staff of the Russian armed forces, said in March that the military had tested a "hypersonic flying vehicle" able to manoeuvre between space and the earth's atmosphere. Earlier this month, Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said a mobile version of its Topol-M ballistic missile could be test-fired soon and that production could be commissioned in 2005. Topol-Ms have a range of about 9.650 kilometres and reportedly can manoeuvre in ways that are difficult to detect. News reports have also said Russia is believed to be developing a next-generation heavy nuclear missile that could carry up to 10 nuclear warheads weighing a total of 4.4 tons, compared with the Topol-M's 1.32-ton combat payload. Most observers viewed the earlier announcements about "hypersonic flying vehicles" as Moscow's retaliation to the US missile defence plans. After years of vociferous protests, Russia reacted calmly when Washington withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 in order to develop a nationwide missile shield. But Moscow has since complained about Washington's plans to build new low-yield nuclear weapons. Other analysts said Putin's statement appeared to be as much for show as for military strategy. "This is intended for the internal audience, an attempt to say that things are great, that defence is growing stronger and not falling apart as it actually is," independent military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said.
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17 November 2004 |
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MOSCOW, November 17 (RIA Novosti) - In the next two years, the Russian army will receive novel nuclear missile systems, which are being tested now,
President Vladimir Putin said at a conference of the leading staff of the Russian armed forces. The conference was convened to sum up the results of combat training in the army and
navy in 2004 and outline tasks for the next year. Mr. Putin demanded that the troops be geared to the nature and direction of threats by the end of 2005. "The composition, structure and strength of the armed forces must be geared to the nature and direction of current and future threats by the end of 2005," said the president. "Effective and combat ready armed forces are a crucial factor protecting Russia from any forms of military-political pressure or potential aggression." The main task of internal command agencies is to improve the combat ability of the troops, above all, permanent-readiness units that must become the core and the main striking force of the army, Mr. Putin said. "Combat training must be based on modern experience and development trends of the art of war." The president recalled "major decisions" taken in the provision of equipment to the troops and cited positive examples of the creation of a basic missile system for the land forces and new-generation small arms, and the successful completion of trials of a naval nuclear missile system. Vladimir Putin called for a saving attitude to technical rearmament. "These resources must be spent carefully but effectively, sparingly as good housekeepers do, and with best results," the president said. He said that the accumulation mortgage program for servicemen must be closely monitored and that the government would allocate an additional 2 billion rubles ($1 = 28.67 rubles) for the construction of housing for servicemen in 2005. "The deployment of Russian military bases [in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan] has greatly strengthened the collective security system in Central Asia," said Vladimir Putin. "It is being used
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18 November 2004 |
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MOSCOW, Nov. 17 - President Vladimir V. Putin, meeting with Russia's defense officials and military commanders here, said Wednesday that the country would
soon deploy new nuclear missile systems that would surpass those of any other nuclear power. Reiterating previous statements and providing no new details, Mr. Putin said Russia would continue to emphasize its nuclear deterrent, even as it continues its focus on terrorism, which has roiled the country in recent months with deadly results. "We are not only conducting research and successful testing of the newest nuclear missile systems," he said in concluding remarks to a regular gathering of commanders at the Ministry of Defense, which were reported by news agencies and broadcast on NTV. "I am certain that in the immediate years to come we will be armed with them. These are such developments and such systems that other nuclear states do not have and will not have in the immediate years to come." In his remarks, which amounted to a broad overview of military strategy and budgets with a dash of boosterism, Mr. Putin did not elaborate on the new systems. The Russian military is widely reported to have been trying to perfect land- and sea-based ballistic missiles with warheads that could elude a missile-defense system like the one being constructed by the Bush administration. Still, Russia already has more than enough missiles to overwhelm the limited system the United States is constructing. In February, Mr. Putin announced that Russia had successfully tested a new nuclear-tipped missile during an exercise that included two embarrassing missile
misfires. At the time, he said the system would allow "deep maneuvering," a statement that arms experts in Russia and abroad took to mean a warhead that could alter its course as it A day after that exercise, Col. Gen. Yuri N. Baluyevsky, who this summer was promoted to the chief of the military's general staff, said the missile was a "hypersonic flying vehicle," though neither he nor any other officials have provided details about the weapon or, more important, its viability. The missile is reportedly a variant of the Topol, a ground-based intercontinental ballistic missile that is already in Russia's arsenal, but Russia's efforts are shrouded in secrecy. Dmitri V. Trenin, deputy director of the Carnegie Moscow Center and an expert on the Russian military, said Mr. Putin's remarks, made almost in passing and not a part of his main address, revealed nothing particularly new. Mr. Trenin described the comments as a gesture to bolster the confidence of the armed services, which remain beleaguered, despite the government's efforts to increase spending, including a 27-percent increase, to roughly $20 billion, in the military budget for 2005. Last month, a senior missile designer publicly complained in remarks to Russian news agencies that production of the Topol missiles had twice this year ground to a halt because of a lack of financing.
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18 November 2004 |
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/4019769.stm |
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Russia will in the next few years put into service new nuclear missile systems unlike those held by any other country, its president says. Vladimir Putin was addressing army chiefs in Moscow. But a speech at the same meeting by the country's defence minister painted a grim picture of the current state of Russia's armed forces. The forces are marked by high suicide levels and rising rates of criminal offending, Sergei Ivanov admitted. Russian resurgence? Mr Putin promised military chiefs they would soon be getting some of the most advanced weapons in the world. Russia, he said, had been testing state-of-the-art nuclear missile systems that no other county had, or would have any time soon. Today more Russian solders are killing themselves than are being killed in Chechnya They were necessary, he said, for maintaining Russia's guard in the war on international terrorism. Moscow has indicated before that it has been trying to develop modern rocket systems - but the promise of pioneering weaponry failed to cover up the crisis in
the Russian armed forces. It means that today, according to official figures, more Russian solders are killing themselves than are being killed in Chechnya. Human-rights campaigners say the high suicide rate is the result of organised bullying of conscripts. The defence minister admitted, too, that the number of soldiers committing crimes was on the rise. And he complained that servicemen were growing poorer - army wages, he said, had not been index-linked and were being eaten up by inflation. |
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18 November 2004 |
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Vladimir Putin announced yesterday that Russia was developing a nuclear missile system that he claimed was unrivalled in the world. The president said Russia was "testing the most up-to-date nuclear missile systems" which would be put into service "in the next few years". "What is more, they will be developments of the kind that other nuclear powers do not and will not have," Mr Putin added in televised remarks to high-ranking military officers. His brief statement was seen as both an attempt to boost military morale and a hint that Russia's nuclear deterrent would not be rendered obsolete by the US launch of a missile defence shield. Washington reacted cautiously to Russia's nuclear designs last night, viewing them as consistent with bilateral treaties. "We do not perceive Russia's nuclear sustainment and modernisation activities as threatening," said the state department spokesman Adam Ereli. Mr Putin, who meets George Bush this weekend in Chile, appeared to refer to a new nuclear warhead delivery system that a senior Russian military official said in February had been successfully tested. It is claimed the warhead can detach from the main missile during the final stages of its descent, and then continue to fly like a cruise missile, evading any missile defence shield. Colonel General Yuri Baluyevsky, the then first deputy chief of staff, told reporters after the February test: "The flying vehicle changed both the altitude and direction of its flight ... We proved it's possible to develop weapons that would make any missile defence useless." Anatoly Dyakov, the director of the Moscow Centre for Arms Control, Energy and Environmental Studies, said: "It seems like Putin was speaking about the new manoeuvrable warhead." That warhead would have had to overcome the "very complicated problem" of the "huge surge in G-forces" that could tear it apart in this final stage. Mr Dyakov said the announcement sought to emphasise "that US efforts to undermine their nuclear deterrents are in vain". He added the statement was "directed towards the Russian military to show the political leadership is paying serious attention to the needs of the army". The announcement came as Kremlin officials also insisted that military spending was rising and social benefits for the military would improve. Sergei Ivanov, the defence minister, said Russia was capable of securing its own nuclear arsenal, the chaos surrounding which had been a serious embarrassment for the military in the past decade. Mr Putin added that, while international terrorism was the main threat to Russia today, "the moment we take our attention away from the nuclear missile shield, we will be confronted with other threats". Ivan Safranchuk, the head of the Centre for Defence Information in Moscow, said the Kremlin head's statement was not about foreign policy but a sign Mr Putin had sided with those top brass members urging nuclear strategic arms development, and decided against the lobby promoting stronger conventional forces.
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17 November 2004 |
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MOSCOW, Nov. 17 - President Vladimir V. Putin, meeting with Russia's defense officials and military commanders here, said today that the country would soon deploy
new nuclear missile systems that would surpass those of any other nuclear power. Reiterating previous statements, though providing no new details, Mr. Putin said Russia would continue to emphasize its nuclear deterrent, despite a new focus on new threats like terrorism, which has roiled the country in recent months with deadly result. "We are not only conducting research and successful testing of the newest nuclear missile systems," he said in concluding remarks to a regular gathering of commanders at the Ministry of Defense, which were reported by news agencies and broadcast on NTV. "I am certain that in the immediate years to come we will be armed with them. These are such developments and such systems that other nuclear states do not have and will not have in the immediate years to come.''In his remarks, which amounted to a broad overview of military strategy and budgets but with a dash of boosterism, Mr. Putin did not elaborate on the new systems he meant. The Russian military, however, is widely reported to have been trying to perfect land- and sea-based ballistic missiles with warheads that could elude a missile-defense system like the one being constructed by the Bush administration. Mr. Putin announced in February that Russia had successfully tested a new nuclear-tipped missile during an exercise that also included two embarrassing missile misfires. At the time, he said the system would allow "deep maneuvering," a statement arms experts in Russia and abroad took to mean a warhead that could alter its course as it homed in on a target. A day after that test, Col. Gen. Yuri N. Baluyevsky, who this summer was promoted to the chief of the general staff, said the missile was a "hypersonic flying vehicle," though neither he nor any other officials have provided further details about the weapon or, more importantly, its viability. The missile is reportedly a variant of the Topol, a ground-based intercontinental ballistic missile that is already in Russia's arsenal, but Russia's efforts are shrouded in secrecy. Although the purpose of maneuverability would be to evade a missile-defense system, Russia already has more than enough missiles to overwhelm the limited system the United States is constructing. In Washington, White House reaction to Mr. Putin's remarks was measured, with Scott McClellan, the presidential press secretary, telling reporters today that "this is not something that we look at as new.'' He said that President Bush and Mr. Putin, whom he characterized as "allies now in the global war on terrorism,'' had discussed the issue of modernization of Russia's military and that the nuclear element of the modernization was "something that we are well aware of.'' Pressed on whether Mr. Bush would be comfortable with changes that enabled the Russians to get around American missile defense systems, Mr. McClellan responded: "We have a very different relationship than we did during the Cold War, and we are working together to significantly reduce our nuclear arsenals.'' Mr. Putin's remarks, made almost in passing and not a part of his main address, did not appear to be timed to any particular event. However, he has recently sought to bolster Russia's image as a superpower. Dmitri V. Trenin, deputy director of the Carnegie Moscow Center and an expert on the Russian military, said Mr. Putin's statement was not particularly new. He described it as a gesture to bolster confidence of the armed services. The Russian military remains troubled, despite the government's efforts to boost spending, including a 27 percent increase - to roughly $20 billion - in the military budget for 2005. Last month, a senior missile designer publicly complained in remarks to Russian news agencies that production of the Topol missiles had ground to a halt twice this year because of a lack of money. Mr. Trenin also suggested that Mr. Putin's address could have been meant to calm discontent that has arisen in nationalist quarters over recent diplomatic initiatives, including a territorial concession to the Chinese on the Amur River and the possibility of a similar concession to the Japanese in the Kurile Islands. "He wants to send a message to the republic that Russia remains a major military force," Mr. Trenin said. |
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17 November 2004 |
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MOSCOW (AP) -
President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia is developing a new form of nuclear missile unlike those held by other countries, news agencies reported. Speaking at a meeting of the Armed Forces' leadership, Putin reportedly said that Russia is researching and successfully testing new nuclear missile systems. ``I am sure that ... they will be put in service within the next few years and, what is more, they will be developments of the kind that other nuclear powers do not and will not have,'' Putin was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency. Putin reportedly said: ``International terrorism is one of the major threats for Russia. We understand as soon as we ignore such components of our defense as a nuclear and missile shield, other threats may occur.'' No details were immediately available, but Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said earlier this month that Russia expected to test-fire a mobile version of its Topol-M ballistic missile this year and that production of the new weapon could be commissioned in 2005. News reports have also said Russia is believed to be developing a next-generation heavy nuclear missile that could carry up to 10 nuclear warheads weighing a total of 4.4 tons, compared with the Topol-M's 1.32-ton combat payload. Topol-Ms have been deployed in silos since 1998. The missiles have a range of about 6,000 miles and reportedly can maneuver in ways that are difficult to detect. Earlier this year, a senior Defense Ministry official was quoted as telling news agencies that Russia had developed a weapon that could make the United States'
proposed missile-defense system useless. |
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17 November 2004 |
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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Russia-Nuclear-Weapons.html |
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MOSCOW (AP) -- President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia is developing a new form of nuclear missile unlike those held by other countries, news
agencies reported. Putin said research was now underway on new nuclear missile varieties and ``I am sure that in the near future, weapons will appear ... which are not and will not be possessed by other nuclear powers,'' according to the news agency ITAR-Tass. Meeting the leadership of Russia's Armed Forces, Putin said, ``International terrorism is one of the major threats for Russia. We understand as soon as we ignore such components of our defense as a nuclear and missile shield, other threats may occur,'' he was quoted as saying. ``We'll continue our efforts to build our armed forces and its nuclear component,'' Putin said, according to ITAR-Tass. No additional details were immediately available. |
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17 November 2004 |
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http://news.channels.aolsvc.aol.ca/news/article.adp?id=20041117093409990011 |
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MOSCOW (AP) - President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia is developing a new form of nuclear missile unlike those held by other countries, news agencies reported. Speaking at a meeting of the Armed Forces' leadership, Putin reportedly said that Russia is researching and successfully testing new nuclear missile systems. ``I am sure that ... they will be put in service within the next few years and, what is more, they will be developments of the kind that other nuclear powers do not and will not have,'' Putin was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency. Putin reportedly said: ``International terrorism is one of the major threats for Russia. We understand as soon as we ignore such components of our defense as a nuclear and missile shield, other threats may occur.'' No details were immediately available, but Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said earlier this month that Russia expected to test-fire a mobile version of its Topol-M ballistic missile this year and that production of the new weapon could be commissioned in 2005. Topol-Ms have been deployed in silos since 1998. The missiles have a range of about 6,000 miles and reportedly can maneuver in ways that are difficult to detect. Earlier this year, a senior Defense Ministry official was quoted as telling news agencies that Russia had developed a weapon that could make the United States' proposed missile-defense system useless. Details were not given, but military analysts said the claimed new weapon could be a hypersonic cruise missile or maneuverable ballistic missile warheads.
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