Russia Tries to Educate the Donald

Russia wants the U.S. to admit “nobody can win a nuclear war”

By Tom O'Connor On 10/18/18 at 2:03 PM

Russia has urged the United States to issue a joint statement expressing that both parties recognize how a nuclear exchange between them would end in mutually ensured destruction.
During an interview released Thursday by French publications Le Figaro, Paris Match and the French-language affiliate of Russia's state-run RT channel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he was concerned about what he felt was a lower threshold for the use of weapons of mass destruction under President Donald Trump's latest nuclear doctrine. Recalling the two countries' Cold War history, the diplomat hoped the current administration in Washington would offer a similar vow of restraint.
"The Americans and we have made two fundamental statements since the Soviet era to the effect nobody can win a nuclear war and, for that reason, it cannot happen," Lavrov said, according to Russia's state-run Tass Russian News Agency.
"It might be a good idea to reaffirm this postulate in the current context," he added.
An unarmed U.S. Air Force Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test at Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California, at 1:23 a.m. PDT on May 14. The Minuteman is the land-based component of the U.S. nuclear triad. Airman Aubree Milks/U.S Air Force/Department of Defense
Shortly after Trump assumed office early last year, he and Russian President Vladimir Putin both appeared to express a desire to expand their nuclear arsenals, reversing a decades-long trend of denuclearization between their countries. Though Trump entered the White House showing deep admiration for his Russian counterpart, the U.S. leader soon inherited a sharp uptick in tensions that began between the two powers under his predecessor. In the months following Trump’s swearing-in, the U.S. continued to sanction Russia due to accusations it interfered in the 2016 election and pursued other malign activities abroad.
A month after Trump was sworn in, he told Reuters that the U.S. has "fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity" and was "going to be at the top of the pack" under his administration. Last October, NBC reported that Trump had petitioned the military to increase its nuclear weapons by up to eight times, citing two officials said to be present at a Pentagon meeting that July.
The Trump administration released its debut nuclear doctrine earlier this year with certain sections referring to low-yield nuclear weapons, something that experts have warned could make powers more willing to resort to a nuclear option. General John Hyten, head of the U.S. Strategic Command, said in March that such low-yield devices would serve as "a deterrence weapon to respond to the threat that Russia, in particular, is portraying."
According to Tass, Lavrov said Thursday that "low-yield nuclear warheads are being made with the obvious intention to use them as a possible means of warfare, which would conceptually undermine all existing agreements stipulating that it is a weapon of mutual deterrence and by no means a weapon of conducting war. In the meantime, this is precisely the role of low yield warheads that was described in the new nuclear doctrine."
The Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces carry out drills in the country’s northeast, on October 11. Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to modernize and enhance his country’s nuclear arsenal. Russian Ministry of Defense
Russia is believed to have the world's largest nuclear weapons stockpile while the U.S. comes in close second, and both powers have continued to reduce their arsenals. At the same time, Putin has set out to improve his country's nuclear triad—the deployment of nuclear weapons on land, at sea and by aircraft—an unveiled an ambitious array of new, nuclear-capable weapons in March. He has accused the U.S. and its allies in Europe and Asia of trying to disarm Russia's capabilities with a global missile shield.
Last week, Putin ordered strategic nuclear drills comprising air, land and sea at the Kura, Chizha, Pemboi and Terekta test sites. On the same day that Lavrov's interview was released, Putin discussed the prospect of nuclear war at the Valdai Discussion Club in Moscow.
"The aggressor must know that retribution is inevitable, that it will be destroyed. We are victims of aggression, as martyrs, we will go to heaven," Putin told the crowd. "And they will just die."

Russia Threatens Babylon the Great

Russian military planes make pair of provocative appearances during NATO war games

Ryan Gaydos 6 hrs ago

 

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© FoxNews.com Raw video: U.S. Navy shares footage of incident where a Russian SU-27 jet conducts a high-speed pass directly in front of the American EP-3 aircraft in international airspace over the Black Sea.

A Russian jet's "unsafe" intercept of a U.S. aircraft and a Kremlin spy plane's conspicuous presence during the largest post-Cold War NATO military exercise highlighted the continuing tensions between many alliance nations and Vladimir Putin's government.NATO's Trident Juncture war games were launched last month in central and eastern Norway, the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, and are set to continue until Nov. 7.
“This is not a Cold War situation,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said last week, adding the exercises were “purely to prevent, not to provoke.”
But Russia views the exercises through a different lens, and the country sent military planes to two Trident Juncture locations in the past few days.
U.S. Navy Forces in Europe and Africa tweeted harrowing video Monday of a U.S. EP-3 Aries aircraft being intercepted by a Russian SU-27 at high speeds. The EP-3 was in international airspace over the Black Sea at the time.
“This interaction was determined to be unsafe due to the SU-27 conducting a high speed pass directly in front of the mission aircraft, which put our pilots and crew at risk,” U.S. officials said in a statement. “The intercepting SU-27 made an additional pass, closing with the EP-3 and applying its afterburner while conducting a banking turn away.”
Meanwhile, a Tupolov TU-142 Russian spy plane made an unexpected appearance over NATO operations off the Norwegian coast Saturday. The Soviet-era plane was seen flying over the USS Mount Whitey while U.S. Marines watched.
Russia said prior to the start of the war games that it might test missiles in the area as well, though so far Putin has not followed through on the threat. Moscow had been angered by the notion of the war games being conducted and accuses the West of acting provocatively around its borders.
There are 65 ships, 250 aircraft, 10,000 vehicles and 50,000 personnel taking part in the exercises. The war games' storyline revolves around NATO restoring Norway’s sovereignty after an attack by a “fictitious aggressor.”
Saturday’s Russia flyover elicited shouts from the Marines aboard the USS Mount Whitey, according to Military.com.
“We are at sea, everyone's got the right to be here. It's international waters, it's international airspace,” British Adm. Guy Robinson told Military.com. “So clearly, we monitor closely. But everything we see in this exercise is that they've been safe and professional.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Nuclear Horns Refuse to Give Up Nuclear Weapons

Russia, UK, China, US, France won’t sign Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
World
October 29, 14:14
Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom and the United States believe that the treaty runs counter to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
MOSCOW, October 29. /TASS/. Moscow, London, Beijing, Washington and Paris won’t sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), a joint statement made at the First Committee of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly said.
"We will not support, sign or ratify this Treaty. The TPNW will not be binding on our countries, and we do not accept any claim that it contributes to the development of customary international law; nor does it set any new standards or norms. We call on all countries that are considering supporting the TPNW to reflect seriously on its implications for international peace and security," the statement published on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website said.
The sides firmly believe that the best way to "achieve a world without nuclear weapons is through a gradual process that takes into account the international security environment." "This proven approach to nuclear disarmament has produced tangible results, including deep reductions in the global stockpiles of nuclear weapons," the statement said.
Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom and the United States believe that the TPNW runs counter to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and bears the risks of undermining it. The five nuclear weapon states say the document ignores the international security context and regional challenges, does nothing to increase trust and transparency between States and will not result in the elimination of a single weapon.
"It is creating divisions across the international non-proliferation and disarmament machinery, which could make further progress on disarmament even more difficult," the statement said.
Russia, the UK, China, the US and France are committed to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the organization of negotiations on nuclear disarmament.
"We, the nuclear weapon States recognized by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, reaffirm our commitment to the Treaty, in all its aspects, fifty years since its signature," the document says. "We remain committed under the Treaty to the pursuit of good faith negotiations on effective measures related to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control."
The sides support the ultimate goal of a world without nuclear weapons with undiminished security for all. "We are committed to working to make the international environment more conducive to further progress on nuclear disarmament," the statement says.
Russia, the UK, China, the US and France call on all states to commit to the continued success of the Non-Proliferation Treaty: "to ensure compliance, to promote universalisation, to ensure the highest standards of non-proliferation, and to respond to ongoing and emerging proliferation challenges, wherever they occur. In this context our five countries reiterate our commitment to continue our individual and collective efforts within the NPT framework to advance nuclear disarmament goals and objectives," the document says.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was adopted in July 2017. The document can only enter into force when 50 states ratify it. A total of 69 countries have signed the treaty and 19 of them have ratified it

Russia Threatens the Other Nuclear Horns

Putin says Russia will target nations who host US nuclear weapons
'European countries... must understand that they are putting their own territory at risk of a possible counterstrike,' says Russian
Russia would immediately target any European nation that agreed to deploy US missiles on their soil, Vladimir Putin has said, following the announcement from Washington that it would withdraw from a landmark arms control treaty..
It would be “quick and effective.” Mr Putin said. The Russian president added that if the US "delivers" any new weapons to Europe after they pull out of the deal, Moscow would have no choice but to defend itself.
"European countries that agree to host them, if things go that far, must understand that they are putting their own territory at risk of a possible counterstrike,” he said.
The comments, delivered during a news conference following talks with Italian Prime Minster Conte, came a day after meeting US National Security Advisor John Bolton in Moscow.
That visit made it clear that the United States intended to issue formal notice on the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, and brought forward the prospect of nuclear weapons returning to European soil.
Mr Putin said he understood there were “problems” with the treaty that began not “yesterday, or three days ago.” But he rejected American accusations that Russia had been in violation of the treaty.
Mr Putin instead claimed that the US MK41 “missile shield” systems and their use of drones represented a “direct violation” of the treaty.
The Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty, which was signed in Washington in 1987 by Presidents Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, committed the two Cold War superpowers to destroy short range and intermediate range missiles (500-5,000km), and not to develop them in the future.
Many expect the imminent US withdrawal from this treaty to be followed by the non-renewal of another major arms control deal the strategic arms reduction treaty, the New START, which runs out in 2021.
Mr Putin said that prospect “worried him.”
“It is a very dangerous situation, which leaves nothing else but an arms race,” he said

Trump Risks World War 3

World War 3 alert: US triggers ARMS RACE risking nuclear WAR, warns former Soviet chief

Mikhail Gorbachev

Mr Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, has denounced the US decision to leave an arms control treaty that helped end the Cold War.
US President Donald Trump, last week, said Washington plans to quit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty.
Mr Gorbachev and then-US President Ronald Reagan signed the pact, to eliminate all short and intermediate-range land-based nuclear and conventional missiles held by both countries in Europe, in 1987.
But Mr Trump’s announcement to scrap the treaty has been branded a “dire threat to peace” by Mr Gorbachev.

Writing in a column for the New York Times, Mr Gorbachev wrote: "I am being asked whether I feel bitter watching the demise of what I worked so hard to achieve.
“But this is not a personal matter. Much more is at stake.
“A new arms race has been announced."
The US stationed land-based nuclear missiles in western Europe in the 1980s - triggering mass protests.
Now some US allies fear Washington might deploy a new generation of missiles in Europe, with Russia doing the same in its exclave of Kaliningrad, once again turning the continent into a potential nuclear battlefield.

Washington has blamed Russia’s alleged violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (Image: GETTY)

There will be no winner in a 'war of all against all' - particularly if it ends in a nuclear war

If the US made good on its pledge to leave the treaty, Mr Gorbachev said he hoped US allies would refuse to be launchpads for American missiles which Mr Trump has spoken of developing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would be forced to target any European countries that agreed to host US missiles.
Mr Gorbachev, 87, said that any disputes about compliance could be solved if there were sufficient political will.
It was clear, however, that Mr Trump's aim was to release the US from global constraints, he said, accusing Washington of destroying the "system of international treaties and accords" that underpinned peace and security after World War Two.

Mr Gorbachev wrote: "Yet I am convinced that those who hope to benefit from a global free-for-all are deeply mistaken.
“There will be no winner in a 'war of all against all' - particularly if it ends in a nuclear war.
And that is a possibility that cannot be ruled out. An unrelenting arms race, international tensions, hostility and universal mistrust will only increase the risk."
Washington has blamed Russia’s alleged violation of the pact as a reason to leave the treaty - an allegation Russia denies.
Moscow has now accused the US of breaking the pact.

Russia Tries to Stop Trump's Nuclear Blunder

ELKO, Nevada (AP) — President Donald Trump says his intention to scrap a landmark arms control agreement Russia follows years of violations by Moscow in developing prohibited weapons, and "we're not going to be the only one to adhere to it." The Kremlin said the pullout "would be a very dangerous step."
Britain said it stood "absolutely resolute" with the U.S., while Germany called Trump's move "regrettable."
Heiko Maas said in a statement Sunday that the three-decades-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is "an important pillar of our European security architecture" and Trump's announcement "raises difficult questions for us and Europe."
The 1987 pact prohibits the United States and Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of 300 miles to 3,400 miles.
Maas says Germany has repeatedly urged Moscow to "clear up the serious allegations of breaching the INF treaty, which Russia has so far not done."
He says Germany is urging Washington to "consider the possible consequences" of its decision, including for a US-Russian nuclear disarmament treaty beyond 2021.
The 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty helps protect the security of the U.S. and its allies in Europe and the Far East. It bars the United States and Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of 300 miles to 3,400 miles.
"Russia has violated the agreement. They have been violating it for many years," Trump said Saturday after a rally in Elko, Nevada. "And we're not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and we're not allowed to."
The agreement has constrained the U.S. from developing new weapons, but America will begin developing them unless Russia and China agree not to possess or develop the weapons, Trump said. China is not a party to the pact.
"We'll have to develop those weapons, unless Russia comes to us and China comes to us and they all come to us and say let's really get smart and let's none of us develop those weapons, but if Russia's doing it and if China's doing it, and we're adhering to the agreement, that's unacceptable," he said.
Trump is sending his national security adviser, John Bolton, to Moscow for meetings with Russian leaders, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, and was expected to relay the news about Trump's decision.
"This would be a very dangerous step," Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, was quoted as telling state news agency Tass on Sunday. He said a U.S. withdrawal "will cause the most serious condemnation from all members of the international community who are committed to security and stability."
Germany's foreign minister, Heiko Maas, said Trump's move was "regrettable," the treaty was "an important pillar of our European security architecture" and a pullout "raises difficult questions for us and Europe." Maas also said Germany has repeatedly urged Moscow to "clear up the serious allegations of breaching the INF treaty, which Russia has so far not done."
But Britain's defense secretary, Gavin Williamson, said his country stands "absolutely resolute" with the United States on the treaty dispute. Williamson blamed Russia for endangering the arms control pact and he called on the Kremlin to "get its house in order."
Williamson told the Financial Times on Sunday that Moscow had made a "mockery" of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
U.S.-Russia relations already are strained as a result of the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential race and upcoming U.S. midterm elections.
Trump did not provide details about violations. But in 2017, White House national security officials said Russia had deployed a cruise missile in violation of the treaty. Earlier, the Obama administration accused the Russians of violating the pact by developing and testing a prohibited cruise missile.
Russia has repeatedly denied that it has violated the treaty and has accused the United States of not being in compliance.
Defense Secretary James Mattis has previously suggested that a Trump administration proposal to add a sea-launched cruise missile to America's nuclear arsenal could provide the U.S. with leverage to try to persuade Russia to come back in line on the arms treaty.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said in February that the country would only consider using nuclear weapons in response to an attack involving nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, or in response to a non-nuclear assault that endangered the survival of the Russian nation.
An independent Russian political analyst, Dmitry Oreshkin, said, "We are slowly slipping back to the situation of cold war as it was at the end of the Soviet Union, with quite similar consequences, but now it could be worse because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin belongs to a generation that had no war under its belt."
Trump's decision could prove controversial with European allies and others who see value in the treaty, said Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who focuses on nuclear arms control.
"Once the United States withdraws from the treaty, there is no reason for Russia to even pretend it is observing the limits," he wrote in a post on the organization's website. "Moscow will be free to deploy the 9M729 cruise missile, and an intermediate-range ballistic missile if it wants, without any restraint."
U.S. officials have previously alleged that Russia violated the treaty by deliberately deploying a land-based cruise missile in order to pose a threat to NATO. Russia has claimed that U.S. missile defenses violate the pact.
In the past, the Obama administration worked to convince Moscow to respect the INF treaty but made little progress.
"If they get smart and if others get smart and they say let's not develop these horrible nuclear weapons, I would be extremely happy with that, but as long as somebody's violating the agreement, we're not going to be the only ones to adhere to it," Trump said.
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Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann in Washington and Tanya Titova and James Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Russia Prepares for Nuclear War

New satellite images suggest military buildup in Russia's strategic Baltic enclave
By Oren Liebermann, Frederik Pleitgen and Vasco Cotovio, CNN
Updated 6:24 PM EDT, Wed October 17, 2018)
Reykjavik, Iceland (CNN) New satellite imagery shared exclusively with CNN shows Russia appearing to upgrade four of its military installations in Kaliningrad, Russia's strategic outpost on NATO's doorstep.
Kaliningrad -- Russian territory that's sandwiched between Poland and the Baltics but disconnected from the rest of Russia, known as an exclave -- has been a focal point in tensions between Russia and the West.







Kaliningrad
Earlier this year, aerial images came to light that suggested the Russians had significantly modernized a nuclear weapons storage bunker in Kaliningrad. Now, satellite imagery and analysis from ImageSat International, a commercial satellite firm, appear to confirm that a major modernization is underway in at least four locations throughout the region.
Those upgrades include fresh work at what analysts have identified as the Kaliningrad nuclear weapons storage site. Images captured between July 19 and October 1 indicate work on an exposed bunker under renovation that appears to conceal activity underneath.

Another set of images shows 40 new bunkers under construction, increasing capacity at a military storage area near Primorsk, Russia's second-largest port on the Baltic Sea. The new bunkers surround older, smaller bunkers at the center of the site. Images from July 18 show the bunkers under construction; 10 weeks later, the bunkers appear complete.

A short distance north of Kaliningrad, images appear to show upgrades to the Chkalovsk air base, including a new railway and the installation of an instrument landing system that would allow aircraft to land in inclement weather.

A final set of images shows the upgrades in Chernyakhovsk, a base that houses the 152nd Missile Brigade of the Russian military. In February, the base received nuclear-capable Iskander missiles, prompting a US defense official to call it "the biggest move we've seen" in terms of Russian militarization of the Baltics.

The Russian military did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment on new evidence of military modernization in Kaliningrad. But the Russian government has consistently defended its right to deploy weapons there.
'We're not going to be intimidated'
Kaliningrad matters because of its strategic location.
"It's very important for them [the Russians] because that is their port on the Baltic sea," said Adm. James G. Foggo III, the commander of US Naval Forces Europe-Africa and commander of the Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, Italy.
"They don't have a land bridge that extends to that area ... and so they've built it up over time."
Foggo, who did not comment directly on the new images, said Russia's presence in the exclave does not deter NATO from operating in the region.
"If they want to challenge us, we will challenge them," he said. "We're not going to be intimidated by those systems that are out there."
But US military officials say they are concerned by what they call Russia's ability to establish "anti-access/area denial" capabilities, or, weaponry that reduces NATO's potential freedom to maneuver in the region. Those include some of the modern weapons systems stationed in Kaliningrad, including anti-ship missiles, radar systems and surface-to-air missiles.
The ImageSat International report bolsters findings from a June 2018 Federation of American Scientists (FAS) conclusion that Russia may have significantly modernized the nuclear weapons storage site since 2016. The FAS report pointed to an underground bunker that was excavated and deepened before it was covered over again, "presumably to return (to) operational status soon."
The new ImageSat report points to upgrades at the same bunker. Hans M. Kristensen, the director of nuclear information at FAS, previously said it was unclear if nuclear weapons are or were stored at the site, but suggested the weapons could be moved there quickly in a crisis.
Tensions running high
Kaliningrad sits about 482 kilometers (300 miles) west of mainland Russia, and as tensions between NATO and Russia have escalated, Kaliningrad has become a major fault line in relations between Russia and the West. NATO has stepped up its military presence in the Baltic region; in addition, US President Donald Trump has demanded that fellow NATO members invest more in defense spending.
But Kaliningrad isn't Russia's only frontier with NATO. Russia also shares a small border with Norway, where US Marines will be training later this month as part of Trident Juncture, a major NATO military exercise involving 50,000 troops, 10,000 vehicles, 150 aircraft and 65 vessels.
Trident Juncture is meant to send a message. It is a so-called Article 5 exercise that tests the readiness of NATO allies to come in to restore the sovereignty of one of its members -- in this case, Norway -- after an act of aggression.
US Marines conduct military drills on Wednesday in Iceland, ahead of the Trident Juncture exercise in Norway, NATO's largest since the end of the Cold War.
Tensions between Russia and the West have been at highs not seen since the Cold War, amid the poisonings in England, allegations of Russian election meddling and Western sanctions on Moscow.
But Foggo, who is overseeing Trident Juncture, said the exercise wasn't a threat to Russia, noting that NATO and Russian troops would be more than 700 kilometers (approximately 435 miles) apart from each other during the maneuvers. NATO, he added, had invited Russian and Belarusian observers to monitor the exercise.
"I want them to be there because that conveys the strength of the alliance," Foggo said.
This story has been updated to correctly identify the instrument landing system in a satellite image provided by ImageSat International.

Russia Has More Nuclear Exercises

Russia Conducts Large-Scale Exercise With its Nuclear Forces

Franz-Stefan Gady, The Diplomat

4-5 minutes

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Unlike in 2017, this year’s strategic forces exercise did not involve the launch of ICBMs.

Russia’s Strategic Forces conducted their annual readiness exercise that involved the test firing of air-launched cruise missiles, aero-ballistic missiles, and submarine-launched ballistic missiles on October 11.
“The exercises involved ground, naval and aviation strategic nuclear forces along with nuclear early-warning systems,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in an October 11 statement. “Shifts on combat duty at command posts, combat crews of missile regiments, crews of nuclear-powered submarines of Northern and Pacific Fleets as well as pilots of strategic missile carriers and bombers practiced training actions.”
The ministry did not specify the types of aircraft, missiles, and submarines involved. However, based on videos released on the ministry’s website, it appears that the exercise involved Soviet-era Project 667BDR Kal’mar (Squid) Delta-III or Project 667 BDRM Delta IV-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) armed with the R-29R/R-2S (NATO reporting name: SS-N-18 Stingray) submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).
Interestingly, the routine exercise did not involve Russia’s most advanced SSBN armed with its latest SLBM, the Project 955 Borei-class (“North Wind”) aka Dolgoruky-class carrying the Bulava (RSM-56) ICBM — a sea-based variant of the Topol-M — capable of carrying up to ten warheads. (The Borei-class was also not part of last year’s exercise.)
All SLBM launches were purportedly detected by the EKS space-based early-warning system and early warning radars. “Single space system and ground-based radar stations promptly detected all ballistic missiles launched by submarines,” the statement reads. “Information on them was issued to the command posts of government and the Armed Forces in accordance with established procedure.”
The recently released videos also show a Tupolev Tu-22M3 bomber armed with a Rhaduga Kh-15 aero-ballistic missile, a Tupolev Tu-95MS bomber armed with the Kh-101/Kh-102 (nuclear variant) air-launched cruise missile (ALCM), and a supersonic Tupolev Tu-160 most likely also armed with a Kh-101/Kh-102 ALCM.
“Troops carried out combat training launches of submarine-launched ballistic missiles, air-based cruise missiles and aircraft-guided missiles from the waters of the Barents and Okhotsk seas, as well as long-range aircraft operating from Engels, Ukrainka and Shaykovka airfields,” according to the press release. “Objectives of the exercises were fulfilled. All training targets at the Kura, Chizha, Pemboi and Terekta test sites have been successfully engaged.”
Notably, the exercise did not involve the launch of ground-based intercontinental-range ballistic missiles (ICBM). Last year, the Strategic Forces fired four Topol-M ICBMs from the Plesetsk space center is located in Arkhangelsk Oblast. The Topol-M (aka RS12M2/NATO reporting name: SS-27), a three-stage solid fueled ICBM with a reported maximum range of 11,000 kilometers (6,835 miles).
The absence of any mention of an ICBM launch could point to a failed missile launch. The test firing could also have been cancelled for a number of technical reasons. Given the critical role that Russia’s ground-based ICBMs play in the country’s nuclear triad, it appears highly unlikely that the ICBMs were deliberately excluded from this year’s exercise. It is also possible that a launch did take place and the ministry of defense has chosen not reveal it to the public.
Notably, the exercise also tested Russian nuclear command and control systems. “The exercise tested the control system of the Armed Forces, as well as the reliability of combat training orders and signals through the whole chain of command from the National Centre for State Defense Control of the Russian Federation to the command posts of formations and military units,” the ministry notes.

How Russia could spark WORLD WAR 3

Putin's threats to the West could quickly spiral out of control and unleash a catastrophic world war (Image: GETTY)
GLOBAL WAR threat: 'Genuine danger' Russia could spark WORLD WAR 3 - ambassador warning
THERE is a "genuine danger" of Russia instigating a global war, according to the former UK ambassador to Russia, with Vladimir Putin on the edge of a "major confrontation".
By OLI SMITH
PUBLISHED: 14:55, Sat, Oct 6, 2018
UPDATED: 20:14, Sat, Oct 6, 2018
Vladimir Putin's threats to the West could quickly spiral out of control and unleash a catastrophic world war, according to the former UK ambassador to Russia.
Sir Tony Brenton, who served as ambassador between 2004 to 2008, said that there was a "genuine danger" of the world falling into a world war crisis 
Speaking to John Humphrys on Radio 4's Today programme, Sir Tony warned that Russia could shut down the entire power system of Britain.
The shock remark comes as diplomatic tensions over European claims of Russian espionage continue to mount.
Russia has been accused of behaving like a “pariah state” after allegations the Kremlin tried to hack the UK Government and the international body that headed the Salisbury Novichok probe.
Dutch authorities said they thwarted a Russian attack on the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, with assistance from UK intelligence.
Moscow has blasted the accusations as “another orchestrated act of propaganda” as part of an “anti-Russian campaign of spy mania”.
Sir Tony insisted that the Russian spying was not the most worrying aspect about Vladimir Putin's approach to the West.
He said: "The espionage and covert propaganda side of this has been going on forever.
"We can express outrage but I suspect they will be enjoying our outrage and they will carry on with it, regardless.
"The bit that does matter and is genuinely dangerous are the Russian cyberattacks on infrastructure like the Ukranian power attack.
"There is a quiet war of that sort going on with the Russians taking a lead.
"The danger is that someone will do something that will escalate out of control, like close down a country’s entire power system.
"If that happens, we are into a major confrontation and we have no ways of controlling that.
"This is similar to how the threat of nuclear weapons played out."
Amid growing concern over the Russian threat, America's most senior naval officer in Europe, Admiral James Foggo raised the alarm over Russia's newest fleet of submarines.
He told reporters at the Pentagon: "We've seen creation of new classes of all sorts of submarines and ships. I'm more concerned with submarine warfare."
Admiral Foggo claimed that Russian cruise missiles on the submarines were capable of reaching "any capital of Europe".

NATO and US Threaten Russian Nuclear Horn

‘We’d take out Russia’s nukes,’ US NATO envoy says, claiming ‘banned’ missiles are being developed — RT World News

 

 

The US would look into ways of "taking out" new Russian missiles if they become operational, the US envoy to NATO said, accusing Moscow of developing a weapon that “violates” the Soviet-US nuclear arms treaty.

US Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison didn’t miss an opportunity to fire a warning shot in the direction of Russia when accusing it of building new nuclear missiles that would allegedly be pointed at Europe. Should such missiles be completed, she said at the Tuesday briefing, “at that point, we would be looking at the capability to take out a [Russian] missile that could hit any of our countries.”

Hutchison then doubled down on the threat, saying: “Counter measures [by the United States] would be to take out the missiles that are in development by Russia in violation of the treaty.” She added: “They are on notice.”
Hutchison was referring to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), which bans the use of all nuclear and conventional missiles, as well as their launchers, that have ranges of between 500km and 5,500km. The US has claimed that Moscow is not complying with the INF treaty, an accusation that Russia has repeatedly rejected.
“We have been trying to send a message to Russia for several years that we know they are violating the treaty, we have shown Russia the evidence that we have that they are violating the treaty,” Hutchison maintained.
The Russian Foreign Ministry blasted the statements made by the US envoy as “aggressive and destructive,” adding that they will get a detailed response from Russian military experts. NATO doesn’t understand the degree of its responsibility and the danger posed by such aggressive rhetoric, the ministry said.
Later, though, Hutchison backed down on her statement as she said she did not actually intend to threaten Russia with a pre-emptive strike. She only wanted to point out that Moscow “needs to return to the INF Treaty compliance” or the US would be forced to “match its capabilities to protect the US and NATO,” the ambassador said in a Twitter post.
Her comment still provoked a wave of criticism on Twitter as people said that she was not fit for her job if she could not formulate her thoughts clearly. Others accused her of carelessly risking World War III.
Hutchison's comments came several weeks after President Donald Trump signed the US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2019. The document contains, among other things, allegations that Moscow violated the INF Treaty.
Moscow, in turn, accuses the US and “some of its allies” of knowingly violating the INF by deploying Mk-41 launching systems close to Russian borders. These can be easily repurposed for firing banned ground-based cruise missiles, it says, while Washington denies the accusations.
Under the 2019 NDAA, US legislators allocated $58 million to counter Russia’s alleged non-compliance with the INF Treaty. The measures to counter the alleged activities include a “research and development program on a ground-launched intermediate-range missile,” which, somehow, should not itself violate the treaty.
Russian lawmakers have also promised countermeasures. “If the missile announced by Congress indeed makes it into the American arsenal, we will have to develop and adopt the same thing. Russia has the military and technical capacities for that,” Viktor Bondarev, the head of the defense committee of Russia’s Federal Council, has said.

The Advanced Russian Nuclear Horn (Daniel 7)

Russia's Most Advanced (And Stealthly) Nuclear Submarine Ever Just Went to Sea
And the navy is worried, and for good reason.
Russia’s second Severodvinsk-class submarine K-561 Kazan , which is a modified Project 08851 Yasen-M design, went to sea for the first time for builder’s trials on September 24.
The massive nuclear-powered guided missile submarine (SSGN) was designed by the Malachite design bureau in St. Petersburg and was built in the northern Russian city of Severodvinsk. Kazan was launched on April 8, 2027, and was originally expected to be delivered to the Russian Navy this December, but construction work on the vessel was delayed. At present, Kazan is not expected to be delivered to the Russian Northern Fleet until at least 2019. Nonetheless, the Russian vessel is expected to be the most formidable enemy submarine the United States Navy has ever faced.
The United States Navy was already impressed with the original Severodvinsk, which is an older design that had been under construction since 1993 before eventually being commissioned into service in December 2013. Shortly thereafter in 2014, Rear Adm. Dave Johnson, who was then Naval Sea Systems Command’s (NAVSEA) program executive officer (PEO), told me he was so impressed with the Russian submarine that he had a model of Severodvinsk built for display outside of his office.
“We’ll be facing tough potential opponents. One only has to look at the Severodvinsk, Russia’s version of a [nuclear guided missile submarine] (SSGN). I am so impressed with this ship that I had Carderock build a model from unclassified data.” Johnson said during the Naval Submarine League’s 2014 symposium in Falls Church, Va . “The rest of the world’s undersea capability never stands still.”
Later in 2016, Rear Adm. Michael Jabaley, who was then the Navy’s program executive officer for submarines—speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies— said on July 8, 2016,  that the Navy launched its Acoustic Superiority Program to improve the performance of Virginia-class attack submarine as a response to the advent of the Severodvinsk-class.
“This is our response to the continued improvement in our peer competitors’ submarine quality,” Jabaley said. “The Russians with the production of the Severodvinsk SSGN took a significant step forward in their acoustic ability. We want to maintain pace ahead of that. We never want to reach acoustic parity, we always want to be better than anything any other country is putting out there in the submarine domain.”
Adm. James Foggo—now the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe—had also expressed how impressed he was with the Severodvinsk design. “It’s a very impressive submarine,” Foggo had told The National Interest in 2016 . “If you look across the design of the Russian Federation Navy, where they have put their resources and their research and development efforts has primarily been in the undersea domain and in the submarine force.”
Though Severodvinsk—and her more modern sister ships like Kazan—are very capable submarines, Foggo had said, the U.S. Navy still retains an edge. But Russia will continue to invest in submarine research and development and it will continue to build an evermore-capable undersea fleet. “I believe that we—the West—still have an asymmetric advantage,” Foggo said. “I believe they will continue to refine their submarine capabilities with the intent of achieving parity with the West—ourselves included.”
Kazan is an example of Russia’s efforts to refine their submarine technology. Kazan is believed to be roughly 10 meters shorter than her predecessor, but appears to pack a larger punch. According to some reports, the refined Yasen-M design is thought to have eight torpedo tubes, which is two less than the original Severodvinsk. However, the new vessel is thought to incorporate two additional missile tubes for a total of ten silos. Each of those silos is thought to be able to carry four missiles—thus Kazan and the subsequent Yasen-Ms will pack an enormous offensive punch.
Dave Majumdar is the defense editor for the National Interest. You can follow him on Twitter: @davemajumdar.

100-Megaton Nuclear Monster Is Not Part of Prophecy

100-Megaton Nuclear Monster: How to Stop Russia's City-Killer Torpedo
Russia's Status-6 "Poseidon" torpedo has excited the fears -- or the overactive imaginations -- of Russia's enemies.
How do you stop a nuclear-powered torpedo designed to bury enemy cities under a tsunami?
Russia's Status-6 "Poseidon" torpedo has excited the fears -- or the overactive imaginations -- of Russia's enemies. Calling it is a torpedo is a misnomer. While the precise capabilities of the weapon are mysterious, it appears to be about 80 feet long -- which makes it more like a mini-submarine or an underwater ballistic missile. Poseidon is propelled by a nuclear reactor to a speed of 115 miles per hour and operates at deep depths up to 3,300 feet. It is armed with a massive 100-megaton warhead powerful enough to generate a giant tidal wave to destroy coastal cities.
How useful such a weapon would be is debatable. Poseidon is too slow, compared to ICBMs and bombers, to be useful in a first strike or an immediate retaliatory strike. Moving at high speeds may make it so noisy that anti-submarine can detect it, and its autonomous nature brings up all the questions about armed robots (especially ones carrying mega-bombs).
Nonetheless, as a psychological weapon, it's brilliant. There is something frightening, like a Hollywood monster movie, about the thought of a robot tsunami-bomb creeping along the sea floor.
But for every vampire, there is a stake waiting to slay it through the heart. H I Sutton, a naval analyst who runs the Covert Shores blog on naval affairs, offers some ideas on technology that NATO can employ to halt Poseidon.
Sutton assumes that Poseidon's "operating modes and route planning will likely be simple (read reliable) and relatively direct, relying on speed and depth for survival." That being the case, one countermeasure would be to seed the seabed with networks of sensor-mines to detect and destroy Poseidons. "Ideally the sensor networks would include their own effectors (e.g. torpedo armed mines) to minimize the delay from detection to neutralization, since the targets will be moving much faster than traditional submarine targets," Sutton writes.
Sutton also wonders whether Poseidons could be killed by long-range hypersonic glide vehicles launched by U.S. Navy submarines. "The payload could be next-generation lightweight torpedo or nuclear depth charge similar to the retired Subroc [rocket-launched anti-submarine torpedo] weapon," he writes. "The short flight time and long range of this type of system would allow kills far outside realistic ranges for torpedoes and allow submarines operating in the North Atlantic to react to Poseidon launches detected in the Arctic region, hitting the target while it is still reasonably near to the sensor which detected it."
Stopping weapons like Poseidon will likely require Western navies to develop a new generation of torpedoes. "The current families of US Navy and Royal Navy torpedoes were developed to counter fast deep-diving Russian submarines," writes Sutton. "While they are highly capable, the even greater combination of speed and depth of Poseidon means that new weapons will need to be developed. These are likely to be characterized by increases in range and autonomy, blurring the distinction with Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs)."
Michael Peck is a contributing writer for the National Interest. He can be found on Twitter and Facebook .

Russia's Superior Nuclear Weapons (Daniel 7)

Russian submarine fleet capable of launching missiles armed with hypersonics and nukes will be ready for war by 2024
Amanda Macias | @amanda_m_macias
Published 1:38 PM ET Fri, 21 Sept 2018 Updated 3:26 PM ET Fri, 21 Sept 2018
CNBC.com
• A new Russian nuclear-powered submarine fleet, capable of launching ICBMs armed with hypersonic weapons, will be ready for war by 2024, according to a person with firsthand knowledge of a U.S. intelligence report.
• In order to finance eight of the submarines, Moscow cut funding for other military modernization programs, such as the nation's surface vessel fleet, according to the person, who spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity.
• The Borei II, also designated Borei-A, is a fourth-generation nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine that has the potential to launch 200 nuclear or hypersonic weapons at one time.

WASHINGTON — A new Russian nuclear-powered submarine fleet, capable of launching intercontinental ballistic missiles outfitted with hypersonic weapons, will be ready for war by 2024, according to a person with firsthand knowledge of a U.S. intelligence report.
In order to finance eight of the submarines, Moscow cut funding for other military modernization programs, such as the nation's surface vessel fleet, according to the person, who spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity.
The Borei II submarine, also designated Borei-A, is a fourth-generation nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine that is slated to join the Russian Navy's Northern and Pacific Fleets. The U.S. Navy, by comparison, boasts one of the largest submarine fleets in the world, with 14 Ohio-class vessels tasked with the nuclear deterrence mission.
The Borei II, which is the first class of submarines developed by Russia since the Cold War, can launch 20 Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles. Each Bulava can carry a bomb yielding 100 to 150 kilotons, which is approximately 10 times more powerful than the Little Boy atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
What's more, unlike a traditional missile, which carries one warhead, the Bulava missile is capable of carrying up to 10 nuclear and hypersonic weapons on its tip. That means one Borei II submarine could potentially launch 200 hypersonic weapons, a threat the U.S. is currently unable to defend against.
A hypersonic weapon can travel at Mach 5 or higher, which is at least five times faster than the speed of sound. This means that a hypersonic threat can travel about one mile per second.
The latest revelations come a little more than six months after Russian President Vladimir Putin touted his nation's growing hypersonic arsenal as "invincible." Inevitably, Moscow's sprint to field this new breed of weapon has sparked fears over a budding arms race.
"I want to tell all those who have fueled the arms race over the last 15 years, sought to win unilateral advantages over Russia, introduced unlawful sanctions aimed to contain our country's development: You have failed to contain Russia," Putin said during his March national address.

Alexei Lipnitsky |TASS | via Getty
Russian Navy officers at the launching ceremony of the nuclear powered missile submarine Knyaz Vladimir of Project 955A at the Sevmash military shipyard.
Of the six weapons Putin debuted in March, CNBC has learned that two of them will be ready for war by 2020, according to sources with direct knowledge of U.S. intelligence reports.
At the moment, the U.S. must rely on deterrence against hypersonic weapons, according to the top nuclear commander in the American military.
"We don't have any defense that could deny the employment of such a weapon against us," Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in March, following Putin's comments.

Russia's Nuclear Drone (Daniel 7:7)

Russian Researchers Hand Over Nuclear Underwater Drone Documentation to Rosatom
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russia's FPI is submitting technical documentation on the Iceberg nuclear-powered robotic submarine designed to explore hydrocarbons deposits under the ice floe in the Arctic region to Russia's State Nuclear Corporation Rosatom, the head of the foundation's project group told Sputnik.
"We are handing over the documentation on the project to federal executive bodies. There were five large-scale preliminary projects, which in the future will help us build new equipment for exploring the Arctic seas in harsh climate conditions," Viktor Litvinenko said.

© Sputnik / Georgiy Zimarev
According to Litvinenko, the next step should be the creation of a structure that, in cooperation with Rosneft, Gazprom, United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), Rosatom and possibly with Rostec in the future, will implement the project and build the "real vehicle."
Since 2013, the FPI (Foundation for Advanced Research Projects), along with Russia's Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering, the Defense Ministry, energy companies Gazprom and Rosneft, as well as Rosatom and the USC have been working out the possibility to create equipment that would allow research of hydrocarbons in the Arctic region.

Russia Threatens US "Space Force"

Russia Claims to Be Developing New Aircraft that Can Disable U.S. Satellites

by Michael Peck
If Russia can in fact disable the electronics on American satellites, and the NPR does reflect U.S. policy, then turning off a satellite could be construed as an act of war sufficient to justify a nuclear response. Whether a U.S. president would in fact risk thermonuclear war over a disabled satellite is another matter. Nonetheless, Russia’s new toy could have dangerous implications.
Russia says it is developing a new aircraft that can disable the electronics on U.S. satellites.
Could this new development trigger a nuclear war?
The electronic warfare aircraft “will be capable of turning off the electronics installed on military satellites,” according to Russia’s Sputnik News . The conceptual work has been completed and design and development will begin soon.
“The work is currently underway to develop an aircraft equipped with jamming systems that will replace Il-22PP Porubshchik [electronic warfare aircraft], which are currently being delivered to the Russian Aerospace Forces,” an unnamed Russian defense industry source told Sputnik News. “This machine will receive a fundamentally new on-board equipment, which will allow to conduct electronic suppression of any targets—ground, air, sea—and disable enemy satellites that provide navigation and radio communication on the ground.”
Russia currently operates three electronic warfare aircraft based on the Ilyushin Il-22, according to Sputnik News. The Il-22PP versions are variants of the Il-22 (NATO code name Coot B) airborne command post, which is itself derived from the Il-18 airliner, which first flew in the 1950s.
The Il-22PP was first flown publicly in 2016. The aircraft, described as an “escort jammer” to support other aircraft, was intended to disrupt radars, surface-to-air and cruise-missile guidance systems, and tactical data networks such as Link 16.
“The problem of Porubshchik 1 is in the aircraft platform itself, as Russia has about 10 Il-22 planes and this machine cannot be reproduced,” the defense industry source told Sputnik News.
“The new aircraft will be named Porubshchik 2, but most likely, this machine will join the Aerospace Forces under a different name,” the source added. “There definitely will be a new air-frame. There is a possibility of developing such an aircraft on the basis of Tu-214 or Il-76 plane.”
None of this is particularly noteworthy. Electronic-warfare aircraft, such as the EA-18G, have become a fixture of aerial warfare since World War II. Jamming radars, missile-guidance systems and communications networks has become par for the course. For that matter, the Pentagon worries about Russian and Chinese capabilities to jam or spoof GPS links that are key to accurate navigation and targeting.
But disabling the electronics on satellites? This would seem to be a different challenge, and how Russia plans to tackle it is unclear. For example, what does it mean to “turn off” a military satellite? Convince the satellite to shut down its systems, perhaps by spoofing a command signal from ground control? Or does it mean hitting the satellite with some kind of powerful beam that fries its electronics or disrupt its systems? And how powerful a system could be mounted on what is essentially a medium-sized airliner?
However, the most interesting question isn’t about aircraft or satellites. It’s about who is willing to risk nuclear war. The Trump administration’s draft Nuclear Posture Review , released in January, suggests that America could respond with nuclear weapons to a kinetic or cyberattack on U.S. satellites. “The President will have an expanding range of limited and graduated options to credibly deter Russian nuclear or non-nuclear strategic attacks, which could now include attacks against U.S. NC3 [nuclear command, control and communications], in space and cyber space,” states the NPR.
If Russia can in fact disable the electronics on American satellites, and the NPR does reflect U.S. policy, then turning off a satellite could be construed as an act of war sufficient to justify a nuclear response. Whether a U.S. president would in fact risk thermonuclear war over a disabled satellite is another matter. Nonetheless, Russia’s new toy could have dangerous implications.
Michael Peck is a contributing writer for the National Interest. He can be found on Twitter and Facebook .

The Islands Will Flee at the Seventh Bowl (Revelation 16)

Doomsday weapon’: How could the West respond to Russia’s nuclear underwater drone?
Published time: 31 Jul, 2018 16:55
US and British navies could counter Russia’s nuclear-powered autonomous torpedo, Poseidon, by using undersea sensors and anti-submarine aircraft, writes Covert Shores website. But is this really a viable tactic?
The development of the Poseidon unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), originally known as ‘Status-6’, was first mentioned in November 2015. Western media later dubbed the submarine drone a doomsday weapon.
On March 1, 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin officially confirmed the weapon’s existence in his annual address to the Federal Assembly.
“We have developed unmanned submersible vehicles that can move at great depths – I would say extreme depths – intercontinentally, at a speed multiple times higher than the speed of submarines, cutting-edge torpedoes and all kinds of surface vessels,” said Putin.
It is reported that the main goal of the torpedo is to deliver a thermonuclear warhead to enemy shores in order to destroy important coastal infrastructure and industrial objects, as well as ensure massive damage to the enemy’s territory by subjecting vast areas to radioactive tsunamis and other devastating consequences of a nuclear explosion
Another potential use for the Poseidon torpedo is to strike US aircraft carrier battle groups.
On December 8, 2016, US intelligence reported that, on November 27, Russia had conducted a test of a nuclear-powered UUV, launched from a B-90 Sarov-class submarine. In February, the Pentagon officially added Status-6 to Russia’s nuclear triad by mentioning it in the US Nuclear Posture Review.
At present, the technical specifications of Poseidon torpedoes are classified information. So far, it is known that the UUV is over 19 meters in length and almost two meters in width. Earlier, it was assumed that Poseidon would be equipped with a 100-megaton thermonuclear warhead that could obliterate entire coastal cities and cause destruction further inland, triggering tsunamis laden with radioactive fallout.
However, according to the latest information, the power of the Poseidon’s warhead is just two megatons. But this does not change much. This amount of nuclear material is still enough to destroy large coastal cities, naval bases and cause a tsunami.
In addition, a warhead of this class could easily wipe out any carrier strike group of the US Navy.
According to some reports, Poseidon can develop speeds up to 70 knots, which is faster than any US nuclear submarine or anti-ship torpedo. The operational depth of the Poseidon is more than a thousand meters, which also significantly exceeds the capabilities of US submarines.
According to Covert Shores, the new Russian UUV can be located with the help of Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV).
ACTUV drone is a DARPA-financed US project to develop an unmanned ship designed to detect and track enemy submarines with the help of sonars. It is assumed that the vessel will not be equipped with weapons of any kind and will be used solely for reconnaissance purposes – however, this may change in the future.
Sea floor sensor networks, including sonar buoys could also be deployed by maritime patrol aircraft, such as Boeing’s P-8 Poseidon, to locate the Russian UUV, according to Covert Shores.
“Strangely enough, Covert Shores doesn’t mention the SOSUS system,” Rear Admiral Arkady Syroezhko, ex-chief of the autonomous vehicles program of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of Russia’s Armed Forces, told Gazeta.ru.
SOSUS is the US sound surveillance system for detecting and identifying submarines. It should be noted, however, that this system will be deployed only on the frontiers – for example, in the GIUK (Greenland, Iceland, and the UK) gap, along the North Cape – Medvezhy Island line, in the Denmark Strait, and in a couple of other places. So it would be a mistake to believe that the SOSUS system is deployed in all parts of the global ocean. In the Pacific, for instance, it is hardly used at all.
Syroezhko believes that, when it comes to tracking underwater objects, the key thing is to select the right location for the tracking system. But it’s very difficult to determine where Poseidon might appear, given its almost unlimited range and high speed.
Also, according to Syroezhko, tracking Poseidon is only half the battle. To destroy the UUV, you need to have a permanent and combat-ready counter system, which means having forces and equipment on constant alert and ready for deployment. But the US doesn’t have such a system yet. To deploy such a system would require substantial financial resources — even for the US.
As for the capabilities of our hypothetical enemies to destroy the Poseidon, they are extremely limited.
“Today the MU90 Impact is the only NATO torpedo capable of reaching the depth of 1,000 meters,” Konstantin Makienko, deputy director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, told Gazeta.ru.
The expert emphasizes that a single torpedo of this class costs over $2 million. Also, according to other military experts, even in a high-speed mode (92 km/h), which decreases its range significantly, this torpedo is still slower than the Poseidon.
Makienko says that the Mark 54, which is the fastest US Navy torpedo, operates at 74 km/h. He believes that it is not capable of catching up with Poseidon or reaching its operational depth.
"Until we see a live experiment, any claims about the potential detection or destruction of the Poseidon are completely groundless. Thus far, all we hear is just words," says the former Chief of Staff of the Russian Navy Viktor Kravchenko.
Currently no hypothetical adversary has a weapon capable of overtaking the Poseidon UUV at its operational depth or reaching its speeds, says Syroezhko.
Mikhail Khodarenok, military commentator for Gazeta.ru
Bio:
Mikhail Khodarenok is a retired colonel. He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering School of Anti-Aircraft Missile Defense (1976) and the Command Academy of the Air Defense Forces (1986).
Commanding officer of the S-75 AA missile battalion (1980-1983).
Deputy commanding officer of a SAM regiment (1986-1988).
Senior officer at the High Command of the Air Defense Forces (1988–1992).
Officer at the main operational directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces(1992–2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (1998).
Worked as an analyst at Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003) and editor-in-chief of Voyenno-Promyshlennyi Kuriyer (2010-2015).

Russia’s nuclear-powered doomsday torpedo (Revelation 15)

Moscow confirms test trails of nuclear-powered doomsday torpedo
Thomas Nilsen
Putin bragged about its existence in March, and now, few days after talking nuclear arms control with Trump, a real version appears in a Defense Ministry video.
The first 22 seconds of a one-minute long video shows the giant torpedo, its size and a blurred sequence of what appears to be test running of the pump jet, or propeller, propulsion. Testing of the steering fin is also shown.
The video was first published on the Russian Defense Ministry’s YouTube channel three days after President Putin talked about how to proceed with nuclear arms agreements with President Trump in Helsinki.
The torpedo is designed to carry a several megatons nuclear warhead, by weapons analysts described as a “doomsday nuke”. If detonated outside the east coast of the United States, it could create a several tens of metres high tsunami wave additional to the nuclear blast itself.
In his annual state-of-the-nation speech in March, Vladimir Putin told that the new underwater drone could travel “extreme depths, intercontinentally, at a speed multiple times faster than the speed of submarines, cutting-edge torpedoes and all kinds of surface vessels, including some of the fastest.”
He continued bragging about the capabilities of the new underwater weapon saying it “is quiet, highly maneuverable and have hardly any vulnerabilities for the enemy to exploit. There is simply nothing in the world capable of withstanding it.”
The Barents Observer first time told about the nuclear-powered torpedo in 2016.
The new video clearly shows that the torpedo does not only exist on drawings and animated films, it is real, and testing of a full-scale version is taking place. In the video, the testing takes place indoor in a workshop.
However, it is unlikely that the test running of the propulsion as shown in the video, includes the actual running of the nuclear reactor since that would with such small-scale reactor cause releases of high-levels of radiation inside the workshop.
How testing of the terrifying weapon has been done at sea is unclear. It is also unclear if the torpedo has been tested with the reactor running in either the White Sea or Barents Sea, the waters nearest to Severodvinsk naval yards.
TASS was first to inform about testing in what can be interpreted to be at sea. “At the sites of the Russian Ministry of Defense, tests were carried out to confirm the dynamic characteristics of the apparatus [Poseidon] when launching in real conditions and checking the parameters of the vehicle’s movement along the route in an autonomous mode,” TASS quoted the Defense Ministry saying.
Poseidon is the new Russian name of the torpedo, formerly also known as Status-6.
Bringing such 24-meter long torpedo to real-tests at sea would require a huge carrier, either a submarine or a surface vessel. In Severodvinsk, the special purpose submarine “Podmoskovye” could be such a possible carrier. “Sarov” is another special purpose submarine that could be used to test Poseidon.
Two other vessels are under construction at Sevmash yard in Severodvinsk, believed to be possible carriers of the Poseidon torpedo, the “Khabarovsk” and the “Belgorod”. The last is a re-built Oscar-II class submarine, like the one shown in the animated video as carrier of the torpedo.
If working, and put into serial production, the nuclear-powered nuclear-armed torpedo will put a fourth leg to Russia’s nuclear triad of strategic nuclear weapons.
The Defense Ministry added that the Poseidon torpedo would be able to target enemy aircraft carriers and hit coastal targets at intercontinental range.
“It is practically 100% invulnerable to enemy countermeasures,” TASS quotes the Ministry saying.

The Nuclear Bomb that Destroys the Seas (Revelation 8:10)

Putin's nuclear 'doomsday machine' could trigger 300-foot tsunamis -- but the worst effects might come from the fallout

Business Insider Australia Dave Mosher 21 mins ago

© Provided by Business Insider IncDuring Russian President Vladimir Putin's address to the Federal Assembly on March 1, he described a plethora of nuclear weapons he said Russia was developing.
One of these proposed weapons, an autonomous submarine, stood out among the depictions of falling warheads and nuclear-powered cruise missiles.
According to a Kremlin translation (PDF) of Putin's remarks, he said the autonomous drone would quietly travel to "great depths," move faster than a submarine or boat, "have hardly any vulnerabilities for the enemy to exploit," and "carry massive nuclear ordnance."
"It is really fantastic, he said, adding: "There is simply nothing in the world capable of withstanding them."
He also said Russia finished testing a nuclear-powered engine for the drones in December.
"Unmanned underwater vehicles can carry either conventional or nuclear warheads, which enables them to engage various targets, including aircraft groups, coastal fortifications, and infrastructure," he said.
© Provided by Business Insider Inc Tsar bomba nuclear blast wikipedia Putin did not refer to the device by name in his speech, but it appears to be the Oceanic Multipurpose System Status-6, also known as Kanyon or Putin's "doomsday" machine.
The Russian government reportedly leaked a diagram of such a weapon in 2015 that suggested it would carry a 50-megaton nuclear bomb about as powerful as Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear device ever detonated.
Nuclear physicists say such a weapon could cause a local tsunami, though they question its purpose and effectiveness, given the far more terrible destructionthat nukes can inflict when detonated aboveground.

Why Putin's 'doomsday' device could be terrifying

A nuclear weapon detonated below the ocean's surface could cause great devastation.
The US's underwater nuclear tests of the 1940s and '50s, including operations Crossroads Baker and Hardtack I Wahoo, demonstrated why.
These underwater fireballs were roughly as energetic as the bombs dropped on Hiroshima or Nagasaki in August 1945. In the tests, they burst through the surface, ejecting pillars of seawater more than a mile high while rippling out powerful shockwaves.
Some warships staged near the explosions were vaporized. Others were tossed like toys in a bathtub and sank, while a few sustained cracked hulls and crippled engines. Notably, the explosions roughly doubled the height of waves to nearby islands, flooding inland areas.
"A well-placed nuclear weapon of yield in the range 20 MT to 50 MT near a sea coast could certainly couple enough energy to equal the 2011 tsunami, and perhaps much more," Rex Richardson, a physicist who researches nuclear weapons, told Business Insider, referring to the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 15,000 people in Japan.
"Taking advantage of the rising-sea-floor amplification effect, tsunami waves reaching 100 meters in height" - about 330 feet - "are possible," Richardson said.
Richardson and other experts have also pointed out that a near-shore blast from this type of weapon could suck up tons of ocean sediment, irradiate it, and rain it upon nearby areas - generating catastrophic radioactive fallout.
"Los Angeles or San Diego would be particularly vulnerable to fallout due to the prevailing onshore winds," Richardson said, adding that he lives in San Diego.

The problem with blowing up nukes underwater

© Provided by Business Insider Inc Putin doomsday weapon kanyon satus 6 madnessgenius ccbysa4 Greg Spriggs, a nuclear-weapons physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said a 50-megaton weapon "could possibly induce a tsunami" and hit a shoreline with the energy equivalent to a 650-kiloton blast.
But he said it "would be a stupid waste of a perfectly good nuclear weapon."
That's because Spriggs believes it's unlikely that even the most powerful nuclear bombs could unleash a significant tsunami after detonating underwater.
"The energy in a large nuclear weapon is but a drop in the bucket compared to the energy of a [naturally] occurring tsunami," Spriggs previously told Business Insider. "So any tsunami created by a nuclear weapon couldn't be very large."
For example, the 2011 tsunami in Japan released about 9.3 million megatons of TNT energy. That's hundreds of millions of times as much as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 and roughly 163,000 times as much as the Soviet Union's test of Tsar Bomba on October 30, 1961.
Plus, Spriggs said, the energy of a blast wouldn't all be directed toward shore - it would radiate outward in all directions, so most of it "would be wasted going back out to sea."
A detonation several miles from a coastline would deposit only about 1% of its energy as waves hitting the shore. That scenario may be more likely than an attack closer to the shore, assuming US systems could detect an incoming Status-6 torpedo.
But even if such a weapon were on the doorstep of a coastal city or base, its purpose would be questionable, Spriggs said.
"This would produce a fraction of the damage the same 50 MT weapon could do if it were detonated above a large city," Spriggs said. "If there is some country out there that is angry enough at the United States to use a nuclear weapon against us, why would they opt to reduce the amount of damage they impose in an attack?"

Is the doomsday weapon real?

Putin fell short of confirming the existence of Status-6, though he did say the December tests of its power unit "enabled us to begin developing a new type of strategic weapon" to carry a huge nuclear bomb.
The Trump administration even addressed the possible existence of the weapon in its most recent nuclear posture review.
In a 2015 article in Foreign Policy, Jeffrey Lewis, an expert on nuclear policy at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, dubbed the weapon "Putin's doomsday machine."
He wrote that there was speculation that the underwater weapon might be "salted," or surrounded with metals like cobalt, which would dramatically extend fatal radiation levels from fallout - possibly for years or even decades - since the burst of neutrons emitted in a nuclear blast could transform those metals into long-lived, highly radioactive chemicals sprinkled all over.
"What sort of sick bastards dream up this kind of weapon?" Lewis wrote, noting that such salted weapons were featured in the 1964 science-fiction Cold War parody film"Dr. Strangelove."
To Lewis, it doesn't necessarily matter whether Status-6 is real or a psychological bluff designed to prevent the US from attacking Russia or its allies.
"Simply announcing to the world that you find this to be a reasonable approach to deterrence should be enough to mark you out as a dangerous creep," he said.

More Russian Propaganda Against the US

Russian State Media Shares Video of What a Nuclear Explosion Near the White House Might Look Like

By Cristina Maza On 4/17/18 at 12:07 PM

 

Russian propaganda outlet Sputnik wants its viewers to see what a nuclear explosion near the White House might look like.
Sputnik shared a video Tuesday created by Science magazine, the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, that shows what a nuclear attack on Washington, D.C., could do to the city. The video depicts an explosion “smashing buildings, leaving hundreds of thousands of people dead, others fleeing the scene and seeking medical help,” noted Sputnik, which is owned by the Russian government–controlled news service Rossiya Segodnya.
The Russian outlet shared the video as many speculate about the potential for war to break out between the nuclear-armed superpowers Russia and the United States.
The United States, France and the United Kingdom launched airstrikes Friday against chemical weapons facilities in Syria, where Russia is actively supporting President Bashar al-Assad. The airstrikes stopped after just one day without any retaliatory strikes from Russia, but experts noted that the possible confrontation between Russia and the West had caused a “war scare” in Moscow, where the state-run media likes to portray the U.S. as its top foe decades after the end of the Cold War.
The airstrikes were in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack in Douma that Western countries have said was committed by the Assad regime.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bellicose rhetoric and grandiose displays of military weapons haven't quelled those fears. Putin used his annual state of the union address in January to show off new intercontinental ballistic missiles that he claimed could overcome even the most advanced missile defense technology and could demolish an area the size of Texas. In a video simulation, Russian nuclear missiles appeared to be targeting a city that looked like Tampa, Florida.
In an op-ed for Time published March 9, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned that the U.S. and Russia should tone down the rhetoric in order to avoid nuclear war.
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“The alarm that people feel today is fully justified. How should we respond to this new round of militarization?” Gorbachev wrote. “Above all, we must not give up; we must demand that world leaders return to the path of dialogue and negotiations.”

Russia Nuclear Bombers Near Japanese Airspace

Japanese Fighter Jets Intercept Nuclear-Capable Russian Bombers Near US Base

Franz-Stefan Gady, The Diplomat

 

The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) scrambled fighter jets to intercept two Russian Air Force nuclear-capable Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic bombers on February 20, the Japanese Ministry of Defense (MoD) announced in a statement.
The two bombers, escorted by Sukhoi Su-35S (Flanker-E+) multirole fighter jets, flew down the entirety of Japan’s East coast hurtling close to U.S. and Japanese military bases including Misawa Air Base, Yokosuka Naval Base and Atsugi Air Base. The Russian bombers were shadowed by F-2, F-4, and F-15 JASDF fighter jets. According to the Japanese MoD, Japanese airspace was not trespassed.
“The flight lasted more than 15 hours. During the flight, the crew members, namely the commander, commander assistant, flight navigators, onboard signal operator and flight engineer, complied with their commitments strictly,” Tu-95MS aircraft commander Major Ilya Smirnov told the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper last week. “Common success and the fulfillment of a common mission depend on how well each crew member performs their duties,” he added.
.“Upgraded Tu-95MS planes operational with Russia’s Long-Range Aviation have advanced navigation systems and short- and long-range navigation electronic devices making navigation support as effective as possible. We face no difficulties despite the geographical location of our flights,” Tu-95MS flight navigator Captain Sergei Ryzhov said, according to the newspaper report.
The Tu-95MS aircraft is an updated variant of the older Tu-95, a Soviet-era four-engine, long-range, turboprop, strategic bomber that can carry stand-off nuclear-capable cruise missiles. Russia is currently upgrading its Tu-95MS fleet and is expecting to operate up to 20 retrofitted aircraft in the near future. “The upgraded aircraft, along with the Tu-22M3 long-range bomber, will form the core of a new Russian heavy bomber division in Russia’s Far East to conducts patrol Pacific Ocean inside the Japan-Hawaii-Guam triangle,” I explained in 2017.
Two Tu-95MS strategic bombers last flew along the perimeter of Japanese airspace in October 2017. In April 2017, two Tu-95MS bombers and one Ilyushin Il-20 maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft also skirted Japanese airspace during a long-range patrol. Additionally, in January 2017, JASDF fighter jets intercepted three Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers circumnavigating the major islands — Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu — of the Japanese archipelago.
Russian nuclear-capable Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic bombers, accompanied by Su-35S fighter jets and an A-50 airborne early warning aircraft, also conducted a patrol in close vicinity to the Korean Peninsula prompting the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) and JSDF to scramble fighter jets in August 2017. During their flight, the Russian aircraft briefly entered South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) as Russia does not recognize KADIZs of neighboring countries.
Japan is facing a shortage of fighter aircraft as China and Russia have stepped up their aerial patrol activities in the region. The JASDF is in the process of inducting F-35A Lightning II fifth-generation stealth fighter jets, the conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) variant of the aircraft.