Inside the Ring: Russia builds up, U.S. down - Washington Times
As the Obama administration prepares to launch a new round of strategic nuclear missile cuts, Russia’s strategic nuclear forces are undergoing a major modernization, according to U.S. officials.
Russia’s military announced last month that as part of the nuclear buildup, Moscow later this year will deploy the first of its new intercontinental ballistic missiles called the Yars-M.
Retired Russian strategic forces commander Col. Gen. **Viktor Yesin**has said the Yars-M “is one of the military technological measures that the Russian military-political leadership has devised in response to the development of a global missile-defense system by the Americans.”
Russia also announced last month that it has launched a new research-and-development program for a modernized rail-mobile ICBM.
In addition to the new strategic missiles, Russia is building a new strategic bomber that is expected to be deployed by 2020.
By comparison, President Obama is expected to announced soon that he will seek a new round of talks with Russia aimed at cutting U.S. nuclear forces even further than the 1,550 deployed warheads under the 2020 New START treaty.
Rep. Mike Rogers, Alabama Republican and chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces, said in a recent speech that the administration is short between $1 billion and $1.6 billion that was promised in 2010 for nuclear modernization.
This last quote cracked me up:
The Pentagon also has signaled a further lack of resolve toward its nuclear modernization program by ordering an environmental impact study of shutting down an entire land-based nuclear-missile wing.“New START doesn’t require shutting down a missile wing, and I have heard no explanation for this requested study,” Mr. Rogers said.
Just for clarification, the language the article uses (“buildup”) is somewhat deceptive- both sides are cutting numbers of warheads in accordance with New START.
The related article is interesting too:
Russian bomber conducts practice strikes on U.S. missile defenses in Asia - Washington Times
Russia trains for possible scenarios where elements of the missile defence system would have to be knocked out. A new ship is soon to come in service in the pacific under Main Intelligence Directorate specifically to spy on missile defense systems in Alaska and Hawaii. It will have advanced signals interception and analysis technology but no arms in board, so that NATO forces will not have a formal excuse to engage it if encountered.