Russia Commander: Russia ready to use nuclear weapons if threatened
Global Research, January 19, 2008
RIA Novosti
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Russia's top military commander said on Saturday that the country is prepared to use its nuclear weapons to defend itself and allies in the event of a severe external threat.
The Chief of the Russian General Staff, Gen. Yury Baluyevsky, told a conference at the Academy of Military Sciences in Moscow: "We do not intend to attack anyone, but consider it necessary that all our partners clearly understand, and that no one has any doubts, that the Armed Forces will be used to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia and its allies, including preventative action, and including the use of nuclear weapons."
Baluyevsky's comments come amid growing tensions between Russia and NATO over the alliance's expansion into the former Eastern Bloc, the United States' plans to deploy missile defense elements in Poland and the Czech Republic, and Moscow's increasingly assertive military stance.
Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans last August, and on December 12, 2007 imposed a unilateral moratorium on the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, a key arms reduction pact.
Baluyevsky said that in order to protect Russia's interests, military force "can and must be used" when "all other means prove ineffective."
Programs to develop Russia's military must be closely linked to national fiscal planning, "taking into account the state's economic resources," he said.
S-400 air defense systems to be deployed in central Russia
Global Research, January 19, 2008
RIA Novosti - 2008-01-14
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Russia's advanced S-400 air defense missile systems will be initially deployed in central regions of the country, the Air Force commander said on Monday.
The S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) air defense system is expected to form the new cornerstone of Russia's theater air and missile defenses up to 2020 or even 2025.
"The S-400 air defense systems will be primarily deployed in central Russia, and only after that in other regions of the country, when more systems become available," Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said.
Russia successfully conducted last year live firing tests of the S-400 air defense complex at the Kapustin Yar firing range in south Russia's Astrakhan Region, and deployed a battalion equipped with the new system to protect the airspace around Moscow.
The S-400 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 2.5 times that of the S-300PMU-2.
The system is believed to have high capability to destroy stealth aircraft, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, with an effective range of up to 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) and a speed of up to 4.8 kilometers (3 miles) per second.
A regular S-400 battalion comprises at least eight launchers with 32 missiles and a mobile command post, according to various sources.
Global Research, January 19, 2008
RIA Novosti
Email this article to a friend
Print this articleRussia's top military commander said on Saturday that the country is prepared to use its nuclear weapons to defend itself and allies in the event of a severe external threat.
The Chief of the Russian General Staff, Gen. Yury Baluyevsky, told a conference at the Academy of Military Sciences in Moscow: "We do not intend to attack anyone, but consider it necessary that all our partners clearly understand, and that no one has any doubts, that the Armed Forces will be used to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia and its allies, including preventative action, and including the use of nuclear weapons."
Baluyevsky's comments come amid growing tensions between Russia and NATO over the alliance's expansion into the former Eastern Bloc, the United States' plans to deploy missile defense elements in Poland and the Czech Republic, and Moscow's increasingly assertive military stance.
Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans last August, and on December 12, 2007 imposed a unilateral moratorium on the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, a key arms reduction pact.
Baluyevsky said that in order to protect Russia's interests, military force "can and must be used" when "all other means prove ineffective."
Programs to develop Russia's military must be closely linked to national fiscal planning, "taking into account the state's economic resources," he said.
S-400 air defense systems to be deployed in central Russia
Global Research, January 19, 2008
RIA Novosti - 2008-01-14
Email this article to a friend
Print this articleRussia's advanced S-400 air defense missile systems will be initially deployed in central regions of the country, the Air Force commander said on Monday.
The S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) air defense system is expected to form the new cornerstone of Russia's theater air and missile defenses up to 2020 or even 2025.
"The S-400 air defense systems will be primarily deployed in central Russia, and only after that in other regions of the country, when more systems become available," Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said.
Russia successfully conducted last year live firing tests of the S-400 air defense complex at the Kapustin Yar firing range in south Russia's Astrakhan Region, and deployed a battalion equipped with the new system to protect the airspace around Moscow.
The S-400 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 2.5 times that of the S-300PMU-2.
The system is believed to have high capability to destroy stealth aircraft, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles, with an effective range of up to 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) and a speed of up to 4.8 kilometers (3 miles) per second.
A regular S-400 battalion comprises at least eight launchers with 32 missiles and a mobile command post, according to various sources.
