CBS/AP/ February 11, 2009, 4:47 PM

Russia: New Missiles Are Unstoppable

A woman walks past a screen displaying stock index outside a local bank in Hong Kong as Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled 2.1 percent to 18,642.37 Wednesday, May 30, 2012. Investors unnerved by Spain's worsening financial condition and a report that China has no plans for a major economic stimulus dragged Asian stock markets lower Wednesday. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

A woman walks past a screen displaying stock index outside a local bank in Hong Kong as Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled 2.1 percent to 18,642.37 Wednesday, May 30, 2012. Investors unnerved by Spain's worsening financial condition and a report that China has no plans for a major economic stimulus dragged Asian stock markets lower Wednesday. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu) / Vincent Yu

A senior Russian official said strategic and tactical missiles tested Tuesday can penetrate any missile defense system, Russian news agencies reported.

"As of today Russia has new (missiles) that are capable of overcoming any existing or future missile defense systems," ITAR-Tass quoted First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov as saying. "So in terms of defense and security Russian can look calmly to the country's future."

Ivanov spoke after the Russian Strategic Missile Forces announced the test of a new intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple independent warheads. He said Russia had also successfully tested a tactical cruise missile.

"Reminiscent of the Cold War arm's race, the Russian missile launch appears to have been intended to send a message opposing the U.S. deployment of missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk from the United Nations.

President Vladimir Putin and Ivanov, a former defense minister seen as a potential candidate to succeed Putin in elections next year, have repeatedly said Russia would continue to improve its nuclear weapons systems and respond to U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense system in Europe.

The ICBM, called the RS-24, was fired from a mobile launcher at the Plesetsk launch pad in northwestern Russia. Its test warhead landed on target some 3,400 miles away on the Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, a statement from the Strategic Missile Forces said.

The new missile is seen as eventually replacing the aging RS-18s and RS-20s that are the backbone of the country's missile forces, the statement said. Those missiles are known in the West as the SS-19 Stiletto and the SS-18 Satan.

Ivanov said the missile was a new version of the Topol-M, first known as the SS-27 in the West, but one that that can carry multiple independent warheads, ITAR-Tass reported.

The first Topol-Ms were commissioned in 1997, but deployment has proceeded slower than planned because of a shortage of funds. Existing Topol-M missiles are capable of hitting targets more than 6,000 miles away.

The RS-24 "strengthens the capability of the attack groups of the Strategic Missile Forces by surmounting anti-missile defense systems, at the same time strengthening the potential for nuclear deterrence," the statement said.

The statement did not specify how many warheads the missile can carry.

The new missile would likely be more capable of penetrating missile defense systems than previous models, said Alexander Pikayev, an arms control expert and senior analyst at the Moscow-based Institute for World Economy and International Relations.

He said Russia had been working on a version of the Topol-M that could carry multiple warheads, and that its development was probably "inevitable" after the U.S. withdrew from the Soviet-era Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty in 2002, preventing the START-II treaty from coming into force.

Pikayev concurred with the missile forces statement that the RS-24 conforms with terms laid down in the START-I treaty, which is in force, and the 2002 Moscow Treaty, which calls for reductions in each country's nuclear arsenal to 1,700-2,000 warheads.

Alexander Golts, a respected military analyst with the Yezhenedelny Zhurnal online publication, expressed surprise at the announcement.

"It seems to be a brand new missile. It's either a decoy or something that has been developed in complete secrecy," he told The Associated Press.

The test comes at a time of increased tension between Russia and the West over missiles and other weapons issues.

Russia adamantly opposes U.S. efforts to deploy elements of a missile-defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. The United States says the system is aimed at blocking possible attacks by countries such as North Korea and Iran, but Russia says the system would destroy the strategic balance of forces in Europe.

"We consider it harmful and dangerous to turn Europe into a powder keg," Putin said Tuesday, when asked at a news conference with Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates about the controversy.

Russia, meanwhile, called Monday for an emergency conference next month on a key Soviet-era arms control treaty that has been a source of increasing friction between Moscow and NATO.

The call for a conference on the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty follows last month's statement from Putin in which he declared a moratorium on observing Russia's obligations under the treaty.

The treaty, which limits the number of aircraft, tanks and other non-nuclear heavy weapons around Europe, was first signed in 1990 and then amended in 1999 to reflect changes since the Soviet breakup. Russia has ratified the amended version, but the United States and other NATO members have refused to do so until Moscow withdraws troops from the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia — an issue Moscow says is unrelated.

Putin warned that Russia could dump the treaty altogether if Western nations refuse to ratify its amended version, and the Foreign Ministry said Monday that it lodged a formal request for a conference among treaty signatories in Vienna, Austria, on June 12-15.
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
23 Comments Add a Comment
linkicon reporticon emailicon
fizzal-2009 says:
just what are they trying too protect? There already is an area in their country that they made wothless from a nuclear meltdown.
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
acauble1 says:

Yeah their (Russian's) adventure in Afghanistan showed us!
Posted by ozilot at 09:58 PM : May 29, 2007
.....

The example you've given is an exact replica of what the U.S. is facing in Iraq.

No matter how big or powerful a military force may be, it is nearly impossible to fight against a determined insurgent force of freedom fighters.

(Freedom fighers in Iraq --- Otherwise known as "terrorists" in the U.S. Which goes to the old saying: "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.")
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
acauble1 says:
Make no mistake, the Russian army is no pushover, it never has been and it never will be. It is best to have them on your side, not on the other.
Posted by Scrat335 at 08:48 PM : May 29, 2007
.........

Scrat is correct. The Russian missile technology build up had only stopped temporarily after the break up of the Soviet Union. Russia has moved full steam ahead on military technology, esepcially with a tyrannical administration in the White House within the past 7 years. Also, Russia's main export, the stuff that keeps their economy going, has been military hardware to countries like China and Iran (two big U.S. adversaries).

We in the U.S. have much to fear. The sad thing is that I knew about these new missiles, (by reading foreign news sources), for almost two years before this story popped up in our main-stream media!!!

Our MSM sucks. Period.
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
cfin5 says:
Tass?....I thought our news media hired all their people after our so called victory in the cold war. And speaking of such a victory, it reminds me of how the red winged wasp is victorious in a fight with the tarantula.......think about it.
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
scrat335 says:
cbscrash07

The missile defence system in Europe is (as you stated) not effective against a first strike. What it is effective against, is a retaliatory strike.

That's what the Russians are afraid of, a first strike and not being able to inflict punishment in return.

The new coldwar is on. And it's going to cost dearly.

As for the quality of Russian military equipment of which I have seen up close and personal (all kinds from all eras) you would be foolish to judge the stuff by the standards set by the west with the wests information. The wars with Israel pitted what was essentially farmers with little education in machines they were hastily trained for against a US backed Israeli army. The Iraq war in the 90s was obsolete pooly maintained equipment against modern technically advanced devices with air supremecy too boot.

Make no mistake, the Russian army is no pushover, it never has been and it never will be. It is best to have them on your side, not on the other.
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
antoniof123 says:
We have got to get rid of the neo cons once and for all. This is insane they did not want to build this defense they had enough problems without this.

Thank you to the neo con republicans who can't move into the 21st century.

Morons one and all don't we have enough ways to destroy the world why do we keep building more ways to do it. If Russia just explodes all their wepons the world ends the same with China or the US. So someone please tell me what these morons are thinking.
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
ubrew12 says:
Strategically, you can't really blame them. The U.S. military industrial complex (MIC) was only really afraid of one thing anyway: PEACE. By walking away from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and deploying Star Wars defense ON THEIR BORDER, our MIC has successfully restarted the Cold War, ensuring them of threats big enough to hoodwink the American people out of trillions more than Osama Bin Laden could. There'll be some champagne corks popping in the MIC tonight!
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
Syndicate says:
So the Russians have started using MIRVS (Multiple independent reentry vehicles) Good for them. About time. However great they think there new toy is, it is not capable of defeating all our missle defense systems. We have a prototype laser that takes out the ICBM just after launch. Which means the fallout lands on the aggressor. The missle defense system is only good for a couple of incoming war heads anyways. Just like you would see from North Korea. It was never designed to stop an entire arsenal. We use the MAD (Mutualy Assured Destruction) policy to deter that. I think the Russians are trying to claim parady with the US. This helps their arms sales. If there weapon systems are seen to be as good as ours they will sell a lot. Even if they are not as good its all about public perception.
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
socrates392 says:
The Russians are creating imaginary threats out of thin air where none exist and are just catering to the losers of the old Soviet empire!

Posted by tbweb at 06:51 PM : May 29, 2007

I agree tbweb, the announcement of this missile test is clearly aimed at an internal Russian audience. Putin and the ex-soviet hardliners are trying to create unity by playing on peoples' fears of the United States, which are largely unwarranted. Paranoia about a possible US attack takes the peoples' minds off the fact that their government is corrupt and systematically dismantling their democratic constitution.
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
tbweb says:
The new Russian Missile is a complete waste of time and money! Who threatens Russia? The U.S. actually likes the Russians so whats the big deal? The U.S. Missile Defense System is no threat to Russia as Russia claims, first of all its a defensive system and Russian claims it can monitor their activities, so what?, what activities are the Russians engaging in that it cares about being monitored? The Russians should spend their time and money on securing their old nuclear sites, securing old nuclear waste and making sure Chernobyl is safe! The Russians are creating imaginary threats out of thin air where none exist and are just catering to the losers of the old Soviet empire!
reply
See all 23 Comments
Scroll Left Scroll Right