DTN News - RUSSIA DEFENSE NEWS: Russia Will Test Launch Iskander-M Missiles During March Drills

DTN News - RUSSIA DEFENSE NEWS: Russia Will Test Launch Iskander-M Missiles During March Drills

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Sputnik News
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 19, 2015: Missile force battalions of Russia's Central Military District will test launch Iskander-M tactical ballistic missiles in the course of military drills after undergoing a command and control training course.

 Two missile battalions of the Central Military District (CMD) will test launch a number of Iskander-M tactical ballistic missiles during exercises in southern Russia in March, CMD spokesperson Col. Yaroslav Roshupkin said Thursday.
"In early March, after the completion of military training courses, the full-size unit will take part in combat launching exercises at the Kapustin Yar testing range," Roshupkin said.

The spokesperson added that two CMD missile force battalions have arrived at a testing range in Astrakhan Region to undergo an Iskander-M command and control training course ahead of the drills.

The units were fully equipped with Iskander-M theater ballistic missile complexes last November.

Following tactical drills, the missile forces are expected to return to their home base in Orenburg Region, which is fitted with the infrastructure needed to house the Iskander-M complexes, Roshupkin said.

Also known as SS-26 Stone, the Iskander is a powerful missile strike system with "quasi-ballistic" capability in use by the Russian Ground Forces. The missiles have a range of 400 km (250 miles) and can reportedly carry conventional and nuclear warheads.

Tests of the system were successfully carried out in 2007 and it is supplied by the Mashinostroyenia military-industrial corporation under a 2011 contract with the Russian Defense Ministry.

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources Sputnik News
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DTN News: Russia Could Scrap Baltic Missile Plans Following U.S. Move

DTN News: Russia Could Scrap Baltic Missile Plans Following U.S. Move *Source: DTN News / RIA Novosti

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - September 19, 2009: Russia could abandon plans to deploy tactical missiles in its Baltic exclave in response to the U.S. decision to drop its missile shield plans for Central Europe, a high-ranking military source said on Friday. U.S. President Barack Obama announced on Thursday that Washington would not deploy missile defense elements in the Czech Republic and Poland, due to a re-assessment of the threat from Iran. "In response to the U.S. intention to drop its missile shield plans in Europe, the Russian General Staff could decide not to deploy a reinforced group of Iskander missiles in the country's west [Kaliningrad Region]," the source told RIA Novosti. The George W. Bush administration sought to deploy a radar station in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in Poland as defense against potential strikes from Iran. Russia consistently opposed the plans as a threat to its security and the strategic balance of forces in Europe. In response to Bush administration's plans, President Dmitry Medvedev said last November that Russia would deploy Iskander-M missiles in Kaliningrad, which borders NATO members Poland and Lithuania, if the shield was put into operation.

Russia Freezes Warplane Contract With Syria - Report

Russia Freezes Warplane Contract With Syria - Report

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - May 20, 2009: Russia has put on a hold a contract to deliver MiG-31E Foxhound interceptor-fighters to Syria, a Russian business daily reported on Wednesday, citing defense-industry sources. A new version of the 'Foxhound' with upgraded avionics, the MiG-31B, was introduced in 1990. Its development was the result of the Soviet discovery that Phazotron radar division engineer Adolf Tolkachev had sold information on advanced radars to the West. Tolkachev was executed, and a new version of the compromised radar was hastily developed. Many earlier MiG-31s were upgraded to the new standard, designated MiG-31BS. Development of a more comprehensive advanced version, the MiG-31M, began in 1983 and first flew in 1986, but the collapse of the Soviet Union prevented it from entering full production. Since 1991 and especially since 2000, most of the existing aircraft have been upgraded to the MiG-31M standard, also adding some additional features like Global Positioning System (GPS) and GLONASS receivers, and three colour CRT MFDs in the rear cockpit. (In the VVS, aircraft designations are often repeated through the years; for example, the Su-35 'Flanker-E' and Su-37 'Flanker-F' are both designated "Su-27M".) It was the heaviest interceptor in the world, with a maximum takeoff weight on 56 tonnes. It was even heavier than a commercial Tu-134 which has a maximum takeoff weight of 49 tonnes. Several other variants have been developed, including a dedicated anti-satellite missile carrier, the MiG-31D; a similar satellite-launching aircraft, MiG-31A; a proposed multi-role version, MiG-31F; and a downgraded export version, MiG-31E; but most have not been built in any quantity, if at all. **Syrian Air Force had 8 MiG-31E aircraft on order, which have now been suspended indefinitely. According to Kommersant, the $400-500 million contract for the delivery of eight MiG-31E aircraft was signed in 2007. Since production of MiG-31E's had stopped in 1994, Syria was to receive retrofitted aircraft from Russia's Air Force reserves. There has been no official comment on the decision to freeze the contract, but an industry source quoted by the daily said the contract was terminated due to Damascus's financial problems. In the winter of 2005, Russia forgave 70% of Syria's debt, which at the time stood at $13.4 billion. After that Damascus still owed Moscow $3.6 billion. Later in the year, Russia resumed military cooperation with Syria, delivering, in particular, Strelets surface-to-air missile systems. Earlier this month, some Russian and foreign media reported Belarus was planning to sell S-300 surface-to-air missiles and Iskander tactical missile systems to Iran, and said that Tehran had arranged to transfer some of the systems to Syria. However, the Belarusian president denied the country had any plans to sell weapons to Syria or Iran.

Russia Sees No Problems On Air Defense System Sale To Belarus

Russia Sees No Problems On Air Defense System Sale To Belarus

(NSI News Source Info) MINSK - May 20, 2009: There are no problems with the sale of Tor-M2 and Buk-M2 air defense systems to Belarus, with only technical issues under discussion, the head of the Russian state-run arms exporter said on Tuesday. "Today, major problems at the negotiations have been resolved and the issues are being discussed from the technical viewpoint. Price guidelines are being determined," Rosoboronexport chief Anatoly Isaikin said at the opening of the MILEX 2009 arms exhibition in the Belarusian capital. Isaikin also said the issue of the purchase of S-400 advance missile systems by Belarus from Russia was being discussed by an inter-governmental commission and no decision had been made. Earlier in May, Rosoboronexport department head Valery Varlamov pointed to complex problems in the negotiations on the purchase by Belarus of Tor-M2 and Buk-M2 air defense systems. He also said that the issue of the purchase of advanced Iskander and S-400 missile systems could only be resolved at the political level. Belarus announced in February 2008 its intention to purchase S-400 air defense systems from Russia as part of the modernization of its armed forces. The Tor-M2 (NATO reporting name SA-15 Gauntlet) is a low to medium-altitude, short-range surface-to-air missile system designed for intercepting aircraft, cruise missiles, precision guided munitions, unmanned aerial vehicles and ballistic targets. The Buk-M2 (NATO codename SA-17 Grizzly) is an upgraded version of the proven Buk-M1 mobile air defense system and retains its main features. It comprises a command post, a target acquisition radar, and up to 6 loader-launcher vehicles carrying four 9M38 ground-to-air missiles. The system has a target acquisition range of up to 50 km (31 miles), maximum target altitude around 25 km (82,000ft) and maximum target speed about Mach 4. The S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) is designed to intercept and destroy airborne targets at a distance of up to 400 kilometers (250 miles), twice the range of the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot, and 2 1/2 times that of Russia's S-300PMU-2. The system is also believed to be able to destroy stealth aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, and is effective at ranges up to 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) and speeds up to 4.8 kilometers (3 miles) per second. The Iskander-E (SS-26 Stone), which is an export version of the Iskander-M missile system in service with the Russian army, is a tactical surface-to-surface missile complex designed to deliver high-precision strikes at a variety of ground targets at a range of up to 280 km (170 miles). It carries a single warhead with a payload of 400 kg to comply with the limits laid down by the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).

Poland To U.S.: Live Up To Missile Commitments

Poland To U.S.: Live Up To Missile Commitments

(NSI News Source Info) BRUSSELS - March 23, 2009: Poland urged the United States on March 22 to live up to past commitments on missile defense as Washington reviews plans to expand its system into Europe, including basing interceptors in Poland. But U.S. Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher, touted for a top arms control post in the Obama administration, said it was more important to counter the real threat from short- and medium-range missiles, while the review takes place. "We hope we don't regret our trust in the United States," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said at the Brussels Forum conference to an audience of senior world politicians and experts. Russia was enraged by the U.S. missile plans - which the Bush administration said was needed to counter a threat from Iran - but has welcomed the review ordered by President Barack Obama. "When we started discussing this business with the United States, the U.S. assured us that they would persuade Russia," Sikorski said. "I am afraid Russian generals and even the Russian president continue to threaten us with the deployment of medium-range missiles," he said. The United States has been negotiating with Poland and the Czech Republic to install 10 missile interceptors, which would not carry explosive warheads, and a radar system on their territories to expand its shield into Europe. Russia sees the system, initially meant to be in operation by 2013, as a threat to its security, but Washington denies this and has even struggled to bring Moscow on-board with the system. Russia had threatened to deploy Iskander missiles to Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave wedged between NATO and EU members Poland and Lithuania, if Washington did not halt the planned extensions. But it was assuaged by Obama's decision to order a review of the multi-billion dollar project to see whether it is still technically feasible and cost effective. The time needed to conduct it is unclear. Obama has also offered Tehran a "new beginning" to turn back the tide on decades of mutual distrust. "Poland has taken a political risk in signing up with the previous administration," Sikorski underlined. Last month, Polish Defence Minister Bogdan Klich said talks with Washington on the plan, and in particular the stationing of U.S. Patriot missiles in Poland and other benefits Warsaw stood to gain, were ongoing. But Czech officials have said they would be prepared to wait three years for work on the radar base to begin. Polls show the Czech public is largely opposed to the system. Tauscher, currently being vetted for the job of undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, said it was more important to move ahead with short- and medium-range missile defenses. She said that Russia should be brought on board with NATO on such a system and that if the U.S. shield proved feasible and cost-effective, it could be attached if this were acceptable. "We need to reassess," she said, noting that Congress believes the shield should not be deployed further until it has undergone "three or four more tests". "The threat is short- and medium-range missiles targeted towards our forward deployed troops, and our allies in southern Europe," she said. "We need to move in a NATOized way. Eventually we will develop a short- and medium-range system, one that will clearly share optics with Russia. We can certainly bolt on a long-range system once it has been tested."

The Iskander: Unmistakable Message From Medvedev To US

The Iskander: Unmistakable Message From Medvedev To US

(NSI News Source Info) March 12, 2009: Russia will not look on indifferently while the United States deploys the third positioning component of its missile defense shield in Eastern Europe. This was the unmistakable message from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in his no-nonsense state-of-the-nation address recently. If countermeasures are necessary, Russia will deploy the Iskander theater missile system in Kaliningrad. Furthermore, according to Med­vedev, Russia reserves the right to use electronic jamming devices against the missile shield.

The president's position is very simple: deployment of an anti-missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic is a direct threat to Russia's nuclear potential. The 10 ground-based interceptor (GBI) missiles planned for Poland cannot, of course, hope to parry a full-scale strike by the Russian Strategic Missile Forces and missile-carrying submarines.

But the strategic importance of these interceptor missiles would increase greatly were the U.S. to deliver a nuclear first strike against Russia. In such a scenario, the interceptor missiles would be forced to contend with the reduced number of missiles that survived the first strike. This would allow the U.S. some hope for success and, for the first time since the 1950s, ‘victory' in a nuclear war. The Iskander theater missile system is Russia's answer to the possible appearance of elements of a U.S. anti-missile system in Eastern Europe. The range of the Iskander in its basic form is 300 kilometers. In the opinion of missile specialists, it can easily be extended to 500 kilometers - and more should Russia decide to walk away from the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Additionally, the Iskander can be equipped with more than just ballistic missiles. The system can also launch long-range cruise missiles; R-500s have already been successfully test-fired from the Iskander. The range of a cruise-missile system can potentially exceed 2,000 kilometers, thus making it possible to hit targets across Western Europe. Iskander mobile launchers deployed in Kaliningrad (and possibly in Belarus), even in their standard configuaration, would be capable of delivering a sudden strike, including with nuclear warheads, at most of Poland. Rapid deployment, which takes a few minutes, combined with the characteristics of the missile itself, increase the probability of successfully engaging targets, especially in view of the fact that the main targets - the interceptor missile launchers - are fixed. The deployment of Iskanders and electronic countermeasures in Kaliningrad is certain to produce a response from the United States.

Its first step will be to give Patriot ground-to-air missile systems to Poland (an agreement to pass a Patriot battery of 12 launchers with an ammunition load of 96 missiles to the Wojsko Polskie has already been achieved).

However, Patriots do not guarantee the safety of GBI missile launchers. In order to make them more secure, the U.S. might reinforce Poland's Air Force with modern strike aircraft that are able to destroy the Iskanders before they can launch their missiles. Finally, there is the possibility that U.S. Air Force units and formations could be deployed in Poland. Russia understands the possibility of such a development of events. So, in addition to deploying Iskander missile systems and electronic jamming devices in the Kaliningrad Region, it can strengthen its grouping of ground, air force and air defense troops in the area, both by beefing up existing units to scale, and by sending in additional reserves. Naturally, such an escalation will increase tensions in Eastern Europe. We are currently observing a reopening of the Cold War's European front, which is now moved several hundred kilometers eastwards. Russia started warning about the undesirability and danger of deploying of a U.S. anti-missile system in Europe many years ago.

Its statements have gradually intensified in expression, from regrets over the lack of a normal dialogue to a direct threat to suppress the system by force. Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to chant the mantra of the anti-Iranian purpose of the European missile shield. But the question: "why can't a missile defense system be deployed in Turkey" has never been adequately answered. To sum up, we have the following picture: an "anti-Iranian" missile defense system will be deployed in the next two to three years in an area clearly beyond the reach of Iran's existing and projected missiles, but very convenient for intercepting missiles launched from European Russia in a northern and a north-western direction.

The immediate targets of this system are the 28th, 54th, 60th and other Strategic Missile divisions deployed west of the Urals. A simple look at the numbers shows that although there are several Topols and UR-100s for each American interceptor, this ratio would only stand until the first nuclear strike. The concern is that it could be tempting to initiate a first strike when you have a system that protects against retaliation. It is only to be hoped that a new U.S. administration will hear Russia's case and agree to develop a mechanism of collective security in Europe. If not, future developments in this region could be hard to predict.

DTN News: Nuclear Weapons No Longer Serve A Military Purpose

DTN News: Nuclear Weapons No Longer Serve A Military Purpose

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 2, 2009: Two modern dinosaurs flirted with catastrophe last month – nuclear submarines each armed with 16 ballistic missiles THE child in Hans Christian Andersen’s The Emperor’s New Clothes told it like he saw it, leaving the surrounding adults to address the consequences. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev speaks with officers near RS-12M Topol ballistic missiles at the Plesetsk space lunch pad. Russia fired three long-range missiles on October 12 and pronounced its nuclear deterrent strong in an extraordinary show of force experts said had not been seen anywhere since the days of the Cold War. Two of the missiles were fired from nuclear submarines in the Asian and European extremes of the sprawling country while a third was watched by Medvedev on land in northwest Russia. It was the second Russian intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test in as many days and the latest in a series of high-profile military exercises of conventional land, sea and air forces as well as strategic nuclear units. Since we adults know that recognising an uncomfortable reality obliges us to do something about it, we often prefer to avert our eyes. Our current empirical need to pledge and spend incalculable trillions to transform our economies and save our planet denies us, however, the luxury of such selective myopia. Dinosaurs were the dominant species on our planet for over 160 million years. When the environment radically changed 65 million years ago, they perished because they had become over-specialised. Two modern dinosaurs flirted with catastrophe, if not extinction, in early February. Responsibility for the over-specialisation of HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant lies not with natural selection, but with deliberate and massive human investment. These two mastodons are not sleek submarines as we might imagine them. They are about half as long again as a rugby pitch, weigh 15,000 tonnes, and carry over 100 crew members each. Nuclear-powered, both have as main armament 16 ballistic missiles with a yield of some 220 kilotons, or 11 times the explosive power of the Hiroshima bomb. France and the UK each possess four of these ballistic missile-launching submarines, one of which is always on patrol. They are “Doomsday” weapons, designed to slip undetectably through the oceans. According to the Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) logic of nuclear warfare, they would fire their missiles long after Paris and London had been reduced to rubble. Being “undetectable”, they cannot be eliminated and thus act as a deterrent to potential assailants. They cost around €2 billion each to build and equip, and millions more each year to operate. Silence is their primary defence and billions have been spent coating their hulls with anechoic materials, and making their reactors, turbines and pumps as noiseless as possible. Missile submarines rarely use active sonar as it is relatively easy to locate the origin of its sound pulses. They rely on passive sonar, or inordinately expensive underwater microphones, to listen out for others’ sounds. HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant are, dinosaur-like, so successfully over-specialised in silent slinking that neither heard the other – until they collided in the Bay of Biscay. Damaged, they both limped home to their respective bases for expensive repairs. The incident would almost be funny, in a Martin McDonagh form of black humour, were the potential consequences not so lethal. Consequences which might arguably fall within acceptable norms if these boats and their thermonuclear missiles served some military purpose. It has, however, been many years since nuclear weapons served any military purpose. A convincing argument can be made that their effective lifespan was a mere four years. The USA detonated the world’s first atomic bomb in 1945, and held a planetary nuclear monopoly until the USSR’s first nuclear test in 1949. A global arms race ensued, reaching its deadly climax in 1986 by which time over 70,000 nuclear warheads had been built. It was a race involving arms whose only military purpose was to deter the other side from using theirs. Some of the world’s best scientific, military and political brains spent decades failing to develop usable strategies for nuclear weapons. As early as 1954, Winston Churchill warned: “If you go on with this nuclear arms race, all you are going to do is make the rubble bounce.” Ignore, for a moment, ethical questions about the only true weapons of mass destruction (WMD) capable of eliminating life as we know it, for, despite all the propaganda hype, chemical and biological weapons never really made the WMD grade. Nuclear weapons have been militarily useless since at least the 1950s. Their current budgetary impact is to drain resources from vital security and other requirements. They have become status symbols rather than weapons. The main nuclear powers are rather like a redundant business executive who spends what little income he has on polishing the Ferrari outside his house. Two years ago such renowned peaceniks as former US secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, former secretary of defence William Perry and the former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee Sam Nunn published an article in the Wall Street Journal calling for the end of nuclear weapons. Mikhail Gorbachev agreed: “It is becoming clearer that nuclear weapons are no longer a means of achieving security.” UK foreign secretary in June 2007, Margaret Beckett, added that “a vision, a scenario, for a world free of nuclear weapons” was required. As a candidate Barack Obama pledged to “make the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide a central element of US nuclear policy”. As president he told the US Congress last week that “living our values doesn’t make us weaker. It makes us safer, and it makes us stronger” while undertaking to “reform our defence budget so that we’re not paying for Cold War-era weapons systems we don’t use”.:

Russia's Medvedev Hopes To Discuss Missile Shield With Obama

Russia's Medvedev Hopes To Discuss Missile Shield With Obama

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - March 1, 2009: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday he hoped to discuss U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield system in Central Europe with U.S. President Barack Obama at a G20 summit in London. The summit of the G20 advanced and leading emerging economies will be held in April to shape a new global financial architecture and work out measures to fight the global financial crisis. In an interview with the Spanish media, Medvedev said he hoped the new U.S. administration will display a more creative approach to this issue than the previous administration. Medvedev said the U.S. idea to deploy elements of a missile shield in Europe was not topical and only caused the feeling of "disappointment" as it was aimed, if not directly, then indirectly, against Russia. "Of course, Russia does not like it. This is absolutely obvious. No one denies the existence of various threats, including the threats that may be accompanied by the acts of nuclear terrorism, threats from countries with instable regimes. But let us respond to these threats jointly rather than isolating each other from these processes," Medvedev said. Washington has agreed plans with Warsaw and Prague to deploy 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic by 2013. The United States says the defenses are needed to deter possible strikes from "rogue states" such as Iran. Russia has consistently opposed the missile shield as a threat to its national security and the balance of security in Europe. Medvedev threatened in November to retaliate if the U.S. plans went ahead by deploying Iskander-M missiles in the country's westernmost exclave of Kaliningrad, which borders NATO members Poland and Lithuania. Obama indicated earlier that he may put on hold his predecessor George Bush's plans concerning the third site for Washington's global missile defense system, which he said needed more analysis.

Russia 'Halts Missile Deployment' / Too Soon To Implement Iskander Plans - Russian Defense Source

Russia 'Halts Missile Deployment' / Too Soon To Implement Iskander Plans - Russian Defense Source (NSI News Source Info) January 28, 2009: Russia's military has announced it will halt its plans to deploy short-range missiles in its Baltic enclave Kaliningrad, Interfax news agency says. A Russian military official said a change in US attitude had prompted the latest decision, Interfax reports. Russian missile complex "Iskander" on display during a military equipment exhibition in the Siberian town of Nizhny Tagil. Russia could counter a planned US anti-missile defence system in central Europe by deploying missiles in neighbouring ally Belarus, a senior Russian general said Wednesday. Belarus, a close ally of Russia which borders Poland, said earlier Wednesday that it was purchasing Russia's Iskander-E conventional missile system by 2020, which is designed to destroy air defences, but has a range of just 280 kilometres (174 miles). The US envoy to Nato, Kurt Volker, said that if true, the suspension would be a "very positive step", the Reuters news agency reported. Russia had said the US missile shield plan in Europe was a direct threat. In November last year, President Dmitry Medvedev responded by announcing the Russian plan, saying it was to counteract moves by the US. The US has insisted that its plan to base radars and interceptor missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic is designed solely to guard against attack by "rogue states", such as Iran. While the Russian defence ministry has not confirmed the latest Interfax report, the BBC's James Rodgers in Moscow says the agency is often used by the Kremlin to float proposals. Interfax quoted an unnamed military official as saying that "the implementation of these plans has been halted in connection with the fact that the new US administration is not rushing through plans to deploy" parts of its missile defence shield in eastern Europe. If the official's statement is borne out it may signal a wider hope in the Kremlin that the US under President Barack Obama will roll back the plans for the missile defence shield in Europe, our correspondent says. If Russia does shelve its Iskander deployment, it would be a substantial conciliatory measure to the new US administration, our correspondent adds. President Obama spoke to President Medvedev by telephone on Monday. The two men pledged to stop the "drift" in their countries' relations, the White House said. 'Moscow infuriated' The US has agreements in place with Poland and the Czech Republic to plug what the US has said is a gap in its global system of missile defence. The proposed system has Nato-wide backing. The US has said Iran is working on long-range missile technology and that the US missile shield would counter this. The US plan infuriated Moscow and soured relations with the US. Mr Medvedev said in November that short-range Iskander missiles would be deployed in the western enclave of Kaliningrad, bordering Poland, to neutralise any perceived US threat.