Cold War Do-Over?

Somebody has noticed that we’re decommissioning submarines faster than we’re building them, and has decided to seize the moment:

Russia Plans New ICBMs, Nuclear Subs
- By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
(02-07) 10:02 PST MOSCOW, Russia (AP) –

Russia’s defense minister on Wednesday laid out an ambitious plan for building new intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines and possibly aircraft carriers, and set the goal of exceeding the Soviet army in combat readiness.

Sergei Ivanov’s statements appeared aimed at raising his profile at home ahead of the 2008 election in which he is widely seen as a potential contender to succeed President Vladimir Putin. But they also seemed to reflect a growing chill in Russian-U.S. relations and the Kremlin’s concern about U.S. missile defense plans.

Ivanov told parliament the military would get 17 new ballistic missiles this year — a drastic increase over the average of four deployed annually in recent years. The purchases are part of a weapons modernization program for 2007-2015 worth about $190 billion.

The plan envisages the deployment of 34 new silo-based Topol-M missiles and control units, as well as an additional 50 such missiles mounted on mobile launchers by 2015; Russia so far has deployed more than 40 silo-based Topol-Ms.

Putin and other officials have described the Topol-M as a bulwark of Russia’s nuclear might for years to come, and said it can penetrate any prospective missile defenses. Last week, Putin dismissed U.S. claims that missile defense sites Washington hopes to establish in Poland and the Czech Republic were intended to counter threats from Iran, and said Russia would respond by developing more efficient weapons systems.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 7, 2007 at 11:42 and is filed under Submarines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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