- MOSCOW (AP) - President Vladimir
Putin said Wednesday that Russia is developing a new form of nuclear missile
unlike those held by other countries, news agencies reported.
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- Speaking at a meeting of the Armed Forces' leadership,
Putin reportedly said that Russia is researching and successfully testing
new nuclear missile systems.
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- "I am sure that ... they will be put in service
within the next few years and, what is more, they will be developments
of the kind that other nuclear powers do not and will not have," Putin
was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency.
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- Putin reportedly said: "International terrorism
is one of the major threats for Russia. We understand as soon as we ignore
such components of our defense as a nuclear and missile shield, other threats
may occur."
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- No details were immediately available, but Defense Minister
Sergei Ivanov said earlier this month that Russia expected to test-fire
a mobile version of its Topol-M ballistic missile this year and that production
of the new weapon could be commissioned in 2005.
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- News reports have also said Russia is believed to be
developing a next-generation heavy nuclear missile that could carry up
to 10 nuclear warheads weighing a total of 4.4 tons, compared with the
Topol-M's 1.32-ton combat payload.
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- Topol-Ms have been deployed in silos since 1998. The
missiles have a range of about 6,000 miles and reportedly can maneuver
in ways that are difficult to detect.
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- Earlier this year, a senior Defense Ministry official
was quoted as telling news agencies that Russia had developed a weapon
that could make the United States' proposed missile-defense system useless.
Details were not given, but military analysts said the claimed new weapon
could be a hypersonic cruise missile or maneuverable ballistic missile
warheads.
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- Russia Building Totally New Nuclear Weapons
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- 11-17-4
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- MOSCOW (AFP) - President
Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia would in the coming years acquire
new nuclear weapon systems which other nuclear powers do not yet have and
are unlikely to develop in the near future.
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- "We have not only conducted tests of the latest
nuclear rocket systems," Putin said in televised remarks to a meeting
of generals representing the various branches of Russia's armed forces.
"I am sure that in the coming years we will acquire them.
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- "Moreover, these will be things which do not exist
and are unlikely to exist in other nuclear powers," he added.
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- Putin failed to specify what type of complex he was referring
to but Russia has been seeking to upgrade its nuclear arsenal after the
United States announced plans in 2001 to develop a missile defense shield
in abrogation of its 1972 ABM Treaty with Moscow.
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- Washington argues its shield would only be capable of
defending the United States from attacks from so-called "rogue states"
and could not stand up to Russia's massive Soviet-era nuclear arsenal.
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- However Putin has since mentioned plans for Russia to
also develop a similar system along with new types of intercontinental
missiles that Moscow claims could penetrate any space shield put up by
the United States.
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- The ITAR-TASS news agency speculated that Putin was referring
to the mobile Topol-M missile which is analogous to an US Minuteman-3 and
is meant to form the backbone of Russia's future nuclear arsenal.
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- The Topol-M is the first intercontinental missile developed
by Russia following the Soviet Union's collapse but its deployment -- initially
set for the end of 2002 -- has been repeatedly delayed because of severe
cash constraints.
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- The ITAR-TASS report quoted the missile's Moscow producer
as saying that mass production of the Topol-M will be included in the military's
2005 procurement budget.
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- This would mean they would be issued to the armed forces
in 2006.
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- The shift in attention to nuclear deterrence came unexpectedly
because Putin has for months said that terrorism posed the major threat
to Russia's national security amid a wave of deadly suicide attacks from
guerrillas in rebel Chechnya.
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- Putin said Wednesday that Russia still viewed terrorism
as the greatest threat to its national security but should also not forget
about the nuclear threat.
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- "We understand that the moment we turn our attention
from such elements of our defenses as a nuclear missile shield, then we
will be facing new threats," Putin said.
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- "That is why we will continue to persistently develop
our armed forces on the whole, including its nuclear arsenal potential,"
Putin said.
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