Strategic update
Fundamental differences remain between Russia and the United States on the deployment of the US missile defense system in Europe.
That is how the Russian Foreign Ministry commented on the results of the talks held on the eve between the co-chairs of the working group on arms control and international security of the Russian-American presidential commission Sergey Ryabkov and Ellen Tauscher. “It was stated that a number of fundamental differences remain in the position of Moscow and Washington. The dialogue will continue, ”the official statement of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized.
Earlier, Moscow has repeatedly demanded that Washington, at a minimum, provide it with guarantees of the non-directionality of the system being developed in European countries against Russia.
However, the United States makes it clear that they are not ready to take such a step. “Due to the fact that Russia believes it is wrong, in our opinion, that the fourth stage of the plan to deploy components of the US missile defense system in Europe will pose a threat to their intercontinental ballistic missiles, we are now at an impasse in these negotiations. We will not sign legal documents that restrict our missile defense system. We are moving forward in deploying a missile defense system with Russia or without Russia, ”the future US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul said recently in the US Congress.
Russian authorities previously voiced the possible consequences of the failure of the negotiations. In particular, Moscow did not exclude withdrawal from the START-3 treaty, as well as the preparation of a “military technical response”. “The scientists, who will have to create such opportunities for the Russian Federation, which, in turn, will allow it to neglect any attempts to nullify its strategic balance, will take up the business. This neglect should be associated with a possible military-technical response, which has been repeatedly mentioned by the political and military leadership of Russia. We directly warn our partners about this and draw their attention to the fact that the meter has long been turned on, very little time is left, ”recalled Russia's permanent representative to NATO Dmitry Rogozin recently.
At the same time, observers note that Moscow has already begun to implement this threat, having begun to rapidly catch up with the United States in the field of strategic nuclear weapons. Only last month, three test launches of new ballistic missiles took place, designed not only to update the grouping of the country's strategic nuclear forces, but also to significantly increase its combat potential.
"May lose parity"
Recall, as of December 2010, according to the website Strategic Nuclear Weapons of Russia, the strategic nuclear forces included 611 strategic carriers capable of carrying 2679 nuclear warheads. The USA has 811 with 5966 nuclear warheads placed on them. The START-3 agreement signed by the two states assumes that the parties will reduce the number of nuclear warheads to 10 units over the next 1550 years, and the number of their carriers will not exceed 700 units.
“It would seem that there is no cause for concern. However, the pace of the withdrawal of Russian ballistic missiles and the commissioning of new ones from combat indicates that in the near future we may lose parity with the Americans, ”said Vadim Kozyulin, professor at the Academy of Military Sciences.
According to the expert, in the middle of 2008, the XMNUMX missile systems capable of carrying 415 nuclear warheads were in service with the Strategic Missile Forces. This is less on 1575 complexes than in 300.
By July of this year, only 369 missiles were left. They are capable of carrying 1247 nuclear warheads. And the rate of reduction will only increase, since the average age of the systems in service is very close to 30 years, while the warranty periods for them rarely exceed 15 years.
The sharp increase in purchases of strategic missiles in the framework of the state defense order does not solve the problem either. According to 2010 and 2011’s plans, strategic forces should receive 30 machines per year. However, these are mainly Topol-M monoblock missile systems and the "three-headed" RS-24 "Yars" missile. Putting them into service will also not narrow the existing gap with the United States.
“The main focus is on missile defense”
As part of the state armaments program up to 2020, it is planned to spend billion rubles on the creation of mass production of new 77 missile systems.
In addition, it was decided to modernize the existing missile systems and start creating a new - heavy liquid ballistic missile. This fundamentally new missile should replace the PC-20 "Voevoda" strategic complex, which is better known under the western designation SS-18 Satan. These machines form the basis of the land group of strategic nuclear forces. The total number of such missiles in Russia is 58, each of which carries 10 warheads ranging from 0,55 to 0,75 megatons, which in TNT equivalent is from 40 to 50 of American bombs dropped on Japan in 1945 year.
The work on the new rocket was entrusted to the Makeev Design Bureau from Miass. The company says that the new liquid ballistic missile, which received the code name "Breakthrough", will significantly exceed the PC-20. In particular, it will be able to throw up to 15 medium or up to 10 heavy nuclear warheads over a distance of more than 10 thousand km. At the same time, new missiles will be placed in the same mines in which 30-year-old Voevods are now living out.
“The main focus of the development of the new machine is on overcoming promising anti-missile defense systems, including laser interception systems,” explained Viktor Esin, a former chief of the main headquarters of the Strategic Missile Forces, an expert in the field of intercontinental missiles. “For this, a whole range of state-of-the-art missile defense technology will be implemented on the new machine.”
In anticipation of the "Breakthrough" Miass demonstrated a substantially modernized sea ballistic missile RSM-54 "Sineva", called the "Liner". A successful test launch of this vehicle was carried out on September 29 from aboard the strategic nuclear submarine missile carrier Tula in the Barents Sea. RSM-54 "Sineva" is designed for nuclear submarines of the project 667BDRM type "Dolphin". This liquid rocket is considered one of the best in its class by the criterion of “mass of the rocket to the weight it throws”: with the weight of 40 tons it delivers over a distance of more than 11 thousand km to the 10 nuclear warheads.
According to Makeev Design Bureau, the Liner rocket surpasses all modern solid-fuel strategic missiles of Great Britain, China, Russia, the United States and France in energy and mass perfection, and in combat equipment (four blocks of the middle class of power) is not inferior to the four-block (in the START-3) American Trident-2.
The Liner rocket can carry in 1,5 – 2 more times the warheads of a small power class than the Bulava rocket, which can be equipped with six such units. In addition, the "Liner" can be equipped with a mixed set of warheads of different power classes.
“Thanks to these missile complexes, a real possibility exists for the existence of a north-western grouping of submarines of the 667 BDRM project before 2025 – 2030. At the same time, the presence of multiple combat equipment will make it possible to quickly respond to changing military and political circumstances, ”noted Makeyev Design Bureau.
The Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering, where the Topol-M and Yars complexes were created, also showed its decision to increase the combat effectiveness of the grouping of land strategic missiles.
Also at the end of September, a test launch of the Avangard rocket was conducted from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. Start was unsuccessful. The rocket fell eight kilometers from the launch site. Nevertheless, notable were the statements of the Space Forces representatives, who confirmed that the launch was carried out by representatives of the Moscow Thermal Engineering Institute and that during the tests the new missile equipment was tested. All this allowed the experts to judge that Avangard was a further development of the Yars complex, adopted last year by the Strategic Missile Forces and, unlike him, can carry not 10 nuclear warheads, but three.
One of the most important details of the development will be that, like the Yars Avangard, is likely to be placed both in the mine and on the mobile launchers, which, in addition to increasing the impact power of the complex, will increase its combat effectiveness.
“Today it is impossible to judge the enemy’s combat potential only by the number of weapons it has,” says the head of the AST Center, Ruslan Pukhov. - This applies to both conventional weapons and strategic nuclear forces. Ultimately, everything is determined by their technological and amazing capabilities. "
Judging by the statements of the developers, the characteristics of the new rocket complexes will more than meet the requirements of reality.
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