A report on the latest Russian weapons was released in the United States
Strategic weapons specialist Jill Ruby has prepared a document for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) entitled “New Russian Nuclear Weapons Delivery Vehicles,” covering six new developments that Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about in 2018: Sarmat ICBMs, hypersonic the Avangard, Zircon and Kinzhal systems, as well as the Burevestnik and Poseidon systems equipped with nuclear propulsion systems, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
This was reported by the Voice of America.
According to the researcher, all materials in the report were obtained from open sources and contain technical characteristics, possible deployment dates and combat purposes of the systems described.
“Putin’s nuclear initiatives are risky and complicate diplomatic relations already strained by Russia’s alleged violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (and the US withdrawal from it) and uncertainty over whether the two countries will agree to an extension. START-3 treaty. Russian systems are more likely to exacerbate strategic instability than to persuade the United States to reconsider its commitment to developing new nuclear capabilities, as announced in the 2018 US Nuclear Posture Review,” Ruby said of the possible results of Vladimir Putin’s nuclear weapons moves in the foreword. to the report.
Thus, all six systems being developed by Russia, according to Ruby, have one practical goal - to break through or bypass the US missile defense. Some of the systems, the report says, are directly designed to destroy US missile defense facilities in Poland and Romania - we are talking about the Kinzhal hypersonic aircraft missile system.
In addition, as indicated, Putin’s public announcement about the development of these systems carried several information functions at once: the head of the Russian Federation earned additional points in the eyes of the electorate during the 2018 presidential campaign, and also sent a signal to the United States and NATO allies that he was ready for a real arms race.
As NTI Vice President Lynn Rustin said in a commentary on the report, at least some of the new or modernized weapons Russia is developing are covered by the New START Treaty, so both countries should immediately begin substantive negotiations to extend the validity of this document, which expires in 3 .
Ruby concludes in his report that virtually all of the systems that Putin has announced will not be brought to the deployment stage in the near future.
“All of these systems are under development, and I would not say that in all cases there is an intention to bring them into service, because it will take a lot of time and money to do this. So for now this is only development, and only in some cases testing,” she said.
The American expert claims that even if the development, testing and deployment of new Russian systems occurs, practically nothing will change for the United States.
“Strategically, it is not clear whether these systems bring anything new to the situation, other than the desire to bypass missile defense. Because existing nuclear weapons quite successfully solve the strategic problem of creating a threat to enemy targets, and these systems will do the same. That is, with the advent of these systems we do not have any fundamental change in the situation. It is clear that both our countries will, with the development of technology, look for new ways to deliver a nuclear charge, but it is still the same nuclear charge,” she says.
Ruby also expressed the opinion that the incident in August of this year near Severodvinsk, when there was a release of radiation and people died, could have happened not with the Burevestnik cruise missile, but with the Poseidon nuclear torpedo.
“I think it could have been Poseidon because the first reports from Russia about what happened said it was a nuclear reactor engine. The fact that this was all on a platform with people at sea tells me that this could be a water test of an engine connected to a nuclear reactor, and from this I deduce that it could be the Poseidon, not the Petrel. But these are just my thoughts, I know that there are many conclusions that it was Skyfall (“Petrel” - ed.),” she said.
Earlier, on August 40, an explosion occurred in the Arkhangelsk region of the Russian Federation, 8 km from Severodvinsk. The explosion killed five Rosatom employees and injured three more. The New York Times suggested that the incident was related to the testing of the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile. A similar version was later expressed by US President Donald Trump. The Kremlin has not confirmed this information. On August 13, Peskov referred to the official statement of Rosatom and refused further comments.
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