A Russian RS-24 Yars thermonuclear intercontinental ballistic missile
launcher (AFP Photo / Andrey Smirnov)
Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/politics/russia-us-nato-missile-defense-898/
Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov is confident that
Russia has the means to protect itself against the sprawling US missile defense
system, which is not just limited to Russia’s neck of the woods.
"We are closely monitoring the work of our
colleagues and understand its vector,” Serdyukov said in an
interview published in Itogi journal. “Russia’s state military program,
which looks ahead until 2020, solves many tasks and will help neutralize threats
created by the US global missile defense network.”
The United States, as the military powerhouse behind the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has refused Russia’s assistance in
building the latest leg of it global missile defense system, which Russia warns
could spark another arms race without some sort of agreement.
Last year, former President Dmitry Medvedev announced
plans to deploy Iskander missiles in Russia’s westernmost Kaliningrad Region in
order to counter the threat posed by the US system.
The US missile defense system has neither geographical
nor technological limitations, and this has some military observers warning
that Russia could eventually find itself surrounded by a ring of NATO radar and
missiles.
Last year it was reported that Washington was planning a
“major expansion” of missile defenses in Asia, which are ostensibly intended to
guard against an unpredictable North Korea, but are most likely being planned
with China and Russia in mind.
The US military in 2006 placed a powerful early-warning
radar, known as an X-Band, in Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan, with further
plans to expand the radar to the Philippines.
When asked whether Russia had the military tools for
meeting the challengers of any possible aggressor, Serdyukov’s answer was
simple and straightforward: "We have them.”
When pressed for more information, the defense minister
responded: “I would rather not go into details, but I can assure you that,
in addition to our nuclear deterrent, which is in a very good shape, [Russia is
researching] significant high-precision arms projects, among others.”
“We feel confident," Serdyukov concluded.
The unfortunate side of the controversy over the US
missile defense system is that it exposes the cynicism behind the Russia-US reset.
Like other unfulfilled promises made by the presidential
administration of Barack Obama, including the failure to close Guantanamo Bay
detention center, the idea of a reset seems to have been part of a ploy to
reduce anxiety – both in Russia and Europe – over its missile defense plans.
While Washington was holding out flowers with one hand,
it seems to have been concealing a club behind its back in the other.
Fortunately, Moscow was not fooled by the ruse.
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