- MOSCOW(AP) - Russia has designed
a "revolutionary" weapon that would make the prospective American
missile defence useless, Russian news agencies reported Monday, quoting
a senior Defence Ministry official.
-
- The official, who was not identified by name, said tests
conducted during last month's military manoeuvres would dramatically change
the philosophy behind development of Russia's nuclear forces, the Interfax
and ITAR-Tass news agencies reported.
-
- If deployed, the new weapon would take the value of any
U.S. missile shield to "zero," the news agencies quoted the official
as saying.
-
- The official said the new weapon would be inexpensive,
providing an "asymmetric answer" to U.S. missile defences, which
are proving extremely costly to develop.
-
- Russia, meanwhile, also has continued research in prospective
missile defences and has an edge in some areas compared to other countries,
the official said.
-
- The statement reported Monday was in line with claims
by President Vladimir Putin's that experiments performed during last month's
manoeuvres proved that Russia could soon build strategic weapons that could
puncture any missile-defence system.
-
- At the time, Col-Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, the first deputy
chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, explained that
the military tested a "hypersonic flying vehicle" that was able
to manoeuvre between space and the earth's atmosphere.
-
- Military analysts said that the mysterious new weapons
could be a manoeuvrable ballistic missile warhead or a hypersonic cruise
missile.
-
- While Mr. Putin said the development of such new weapons
wasn't aimed against the United States, most observers viewed the move
as Moscow's retaliation to the U.S. missile defence plans.
-
- After years of vociferous protests, Russia reacted calmly
when Washington withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002
in order to develop of a countrywide missile shield. But U.S.-Russian relations
have soured again lately, and Moscow has complained about Washington's
plans to build new low-yield nuclear weapons.
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