New Cold War Starting?

[Bronco Bob]

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer Wed Feb 7, 1:02 PM ET

MOSCOW - Russia's defense minister on Wednesday laid out an ambitious plan for building new intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines and possibly aircraft carriers, and set the goal of exceeding the Soviet army in combat readiness.

Sergei Ivanov's statements appeared aimed at raising his profile at home ahead of the 2008 election in which he is widely seen as a potential contender to succeed President
Vladimir Putin. But they also seemed to reflect a growing chill in Russian-U.S. relations and the Kremlin's concern about U.S. missile defense plans.

Ivanov told parliament the military would get 17 new ballistic missiles this year — a drastic increase over the average of four deployed annually in recent years. The purchases are part of a weapons modernization program for 2007-2015 worth about $190 billion.

The plan envisages the deployment of 34 new silo-based Topol-M missiles and control units, as well as an additional 50 such missiles mounted on mobile launchers by 2015; Russia so far has deployed more than 40 silo-based Topol-Ms.

Putin and other officials have described the Topol-M as a bulwark of Russia's nuclear might for years to come, and said it can penetrate any prospective missile defenses. Last week, Putin dismissed U.S. claims that missile defense sites Washington hopes to establish in Poland and the Czech Republic were intended to counter threats from
Iran, and said Russia would respond by developing more efficient weapons systems.

In 2002, Putin and
President Bush signed a treaty obliging both sides to cut their strategic nuclear weapons by about two-thirds by 2012, down to 1,700 to 2,200 missiles. But Russian-U.S. ties have since worsened steadily over disagreements on
Iraq and other global crises, and U.S. concerns about an increasingly authoritarian streak in Russia's domestic policy.

"The Russian leadership believes that a nuclear parity with the United States is vitally important because it allows it to conduct an equal dialogue on other issues," said an independent military analyst, Alexander Golts.

A rising tide of oil revenues has enabled Russia to boost defense spending following a squeeze on the military in the 1990s. "The question now is whether the industries are capable of producing what the military needs," Ivanov said.

Analysts warn that building any sizable numbers of new weapons would pose a daunting challenge to the defense plants that received virtually no government orders for a decade following the 1991 Soviet collapse.

"Links to subcontractors have been broken, and the defense plants now need to rebuild them to produce weapons," Golts said.

Alexander Pikayev, a senior analyst at the Moscow-based Institute for World Economy and International Relations, said the military had failed to set the right priorities for weapons procurement in the past.

Russia's defense budget, which stood at $8.1 billion in 2001, nearly quadrupled to $31 billion this year, Ivanov said. While this year's military spending is Russia's largest since the 1991 Soviet collapse, it is still about 20 times less than the U.S. defense budget.

Ivanov said the military now has enough money to intensify combat training.

"Combat readiness of the army and the navy is currently the highest in the post-Soviet history," he said, adding the task now is to "exceed Soviet-era levels."

Ivanov said the military now has about 1.13 million servicemen, compared with 1.34 million in 2001. By 2015, the military plans to have about 1 million servicemen as Russia continues to reduce its bloated armed forces. "We can't go below that," he said.

The Kremlin has rejected liberals' calls to abolish the draft, saying Russia needs a large number of conscripts to protect its huge territory.

Ivanov said the weapons modernization program would allow the military to replace 45 percent of existing arsenals with modern weapons systems by 2015.

As part of the plan, the navy will commission 31 new ships, including eight nuclear submarines carrying intercontinental ballistic missiles, Ivanov said.

He played down recent failed launches of the Bulava missile being developed to equip these submarines. The Bulava, developed by the same design bureau that built the Topol-M, failed in three consecutive launches late last year.

"If we already had commissioned this missile and had failures, that would have been a nightmare," Ivanov said, adding that launch failures were "within the norm" in the testing phase.

He also said the government would decide in 2009-2010 whether to start the construction of a new shipyard for building aircraft carriers. Russia now only has one Soviet-built medium-sized aircraft carrier capable of carrying about 30 jets and helicopters.

[cbs1177]

we answered by:
For the first time in years, the countdown for a Minuteman 3 missile test will include blasting open the 106-ton silo door at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The year's first liftoff from the Central Coast also marks a return of closed-door missile tests. It's planned for 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7, from Launch Facility 10 on north Vandenberg. The launch window remains open until 6:01 a.m. to accommodate any delays from unfavorable weather or technical problems.
Reflecting the test's return to closed-door launches, the commemorative patch for the mission, officially labeled Glory Trip-193, is shaped like an eight-sided launch enclosure door.
In recent years, the 576th Flight Test Squadron has conducted tests with the huge door already open, in what was intended to be a cost-saving measure, according to the unit's commander, Lt. Col. Stephen L. Davis.
"What we found over time were two things," Davis said. "Number one, the environmental protection of the launcher was not as good as we would have liked it to be."
To protect the weapon and keep it dry leading up to open-door tests, a temporary plastic cover was crafted. But that shelter leaked before launch during a March downpour and contaminated a test missile in 2005.
"The other issue we found is the launcher enclosure door also has impacts on the accuracy of the missile, so one of the reasons we're returning to closed-door launches is because our accuracy data is more operationally representative of the deployed force," Davis said. "That's our key mantra here -- to make sure we're testing it as close as possible to our deployed force to make sure we get accurate data."
In addition, the expected savings weren't as dramatic. Instead of an estimated $150,000, they saw just a $25,000 to $30,000 savings per launch.
Leading up to Wednesday's launch, the 576th conducted a dress rehearsal in October.
"We didn't fire the missile, but we did fire all the things that have to do with the door, just to make sure we have all the right procedures in place, that the equipment was still working right," he said. "What we found is, it's easy to stop doing something; it's actually hard to restart it."
The blastoff will culminate a yearlong effort to train crews and ensure the base has proper equipment and procedures in place for a closed-door test, according to Davis.
Vandenberg's huge launch enclosure is similar to those sheltering on-alert missiles based in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming.
However, the California base's facilities are equipped with giant shock absorbers meant to catch the door as it blows open. That's because the launch facilities are designed for re-use.
Once the signal is sent, four ballistic gas generators activate an actuator, pulling on cables that slide the huge door open, he said.
In another milestone, the test will involve the first GPS-only flight, using space-based Global Positioning Satellites for navigation instead of radio transponders.
The military will track the missile's one unarmed re-entry vehicle as it travels thousands of miles to a target in the Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific ocean.
A task force of combat crew members traveled from 91st Space Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., for the test.
"This launch represents six months of intense activity for the 576th maintenance personnel, operations folks and really the entire ICBM community, allowing us to conduct this reliability and accuracy test," said Capt. Travis Brabec, test manager for this mission.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16985538/

[Bronco_Beerslug]

New Cold War Starting?Absolutely, see Iran, NK, Venezuela, China, Russia, etc... Bush has another feather in his cap.

[cbs1177]

Absolutely, see Iran, NK, Venezuela, China, Russia, etc... Bush has another feather in his cap.

It is almost like Bush has sent a blaze a wild fire that can't be put out. We hope economic tolls and inflation cripple Iran, Venezuela has a "Caesar" moment, China has too many people to deal with we hope and run away growth to deal with, and finally Russia the scariest of all nuclear weapons and feeling like a wounded animal. Cutting oil and gas off from Europe over disagreements. NK is crazy as can be. Iran would have been contained by Saddem and we would be 750 billions richer to deal with other problems at hand even help balance budget and not put our future in the Chineses and Asians bond holders.

[Bronco Bob]

Putin accuses U.S. of sparking arms race

By SLOBODAN LEKIC, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 1 minute ago

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday blamed U.S. policy for inciting other countries to seek nuclear weapons to defend themselves from an "almost uncontained use of military force" — a stinging attack that underscored growing tensions between Washington and Moscow.

"Unilateral, illegitimate actions have not solved a single problem, they have become a hotbed of further conflicts," Putin said at a security forum attracting senior officials from around the world.

"One state, the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way."

The Bush administration said it was "surprised and disappointed" by Putin's remarks. "His accusations are wrong," said Gordon Johndroe, Bush's national security spokesman.

In what the Russian leader's spokesman acknowledged was his harshest criticism of the United States, Putin attacked Bush's administration for stoking a new arms race by planning to deploy a missile defense system in eastern Europe and for backing a U.N. plan that would grant virtual independence to Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo.

Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., who was also attending the conference, described Putin's remarks as "the most aggressive speech from a Russian leader since the end of the Cold War."

The United States and an increasingly assertive Russia repeatedly have butted heads during the past year, with Vice President Dick Cheney accusing Moscow of using its energy resources as "tools of intimidation or blackmail." Washington also has been angered by Russia's reluctance to impose meaningful sanctions against Iran, which is accused of seeking to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian atomic energy program.

But Putin said it was "the almost uncontained hyper use of force in international relations" that was forcing countries opposed to Washington to seek to build up nuclear arsenals.

"It is a world of one master, one sovereign ... it has nothing to do with democracy," he said. "This is nourishing the wish of countries to get nuclear weapons."

"This is very dangerous, nobody feels secure anymore because nobody can hide behind international law," Putin told the gathering.

Putin did not mention the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, but he voiced concern about NATO's expansion plans as possible challenges to Russia.

"The process of NATO expansion has nothing to do with modernization of the alliance or with ensuring security in Europe," Putin said. "On the contrary, it is a serious factor provoking reduction of mutual trust."

On the missile defense system, Putin said: "I don't want to accuse anyone of being aggressive" but suggested it would seriously change the balance of power and could provoke an unspecified "asymmetric" response.

On Kosovo, Moscow has said a solution imposed against Serbia's consent could serve as a model for other separatist provinces elsewhere in the world. Washington, which supports Kosovo's independence, maintains that the Kosovo situation is a "one-off" because the province has been under U.N. rule since 1999 when Serb forces were ejected following a brief aerial war with NATO.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates had little to say about the accusations, remarking only that Putin "was very candid."

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he was disappointed by Putin's criticism about NATO expansion. "Who can be worried that democracy and the rule of law is coming closer to somebody's border?" he asked.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the president's speech was not "confrontational" and attributed his blunt words to the sense that the number of conflicts fomented by Washington "was constantly growing" and that international law was being undermined by such actions.

"It is in the interest of the United States, the European Union and other countries that international law is upheld, not further destroyed," Peskov said.

Minutes earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel — whose country holds the European Union's rotating presidency — had praised Russia, saying it would be a reliable energy supplier to Europe. She called for closer relations between the EU and Moscow to enhance stability on the continent.

"How relations between the EU and Russia evolve will have a crucial impact on how security in the region will develop," Merkel told the annual Munich Conference on Security Policy. The forum is often used as an opportunity for officials to conduct diplomacy in an informal setting.

Russia's reputation as a supplier of natural gas to the West was damaged in the recent past when it halted supplies to Europe through main pipelines crossing Belarus and Ukraine due to pricing disputes with those two countries.

Merkel also said that the international community is determined to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Tehran needed to accept demands made by the U.N. and the International Atomic Energy Agency, she said.

On the sidelines of the conference, Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani defended his country's nuclear program as peaceful, saying: "We are no threat to our region or other countries," while indicating a willingness to return to negotiations.

[Bronco Bob]

Russia intensifies efforts to rebuild its military machine

By Fred Weir, Correspondent of The Christian Science MonitorMon Feb 12, 3:00 AM ET

At a major security conference this past weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin blasted the US for its militaristic approach to foreign policy, saying its actions were "nourishing an arms race."

But little noticed amid the sharp US and European response to Mr. Putin's comments is Russia's burgeoning military-industrial complex, generally thought to have collapsed with the Soviet Union.

The cold war days when the USSR matched the US missile-for-missile may be gone. But experts say that Russia is increasingly capable of turning out cutting-edge weaponry and selling it to countries that are shunned by Western suppliers.

"The fact that our country is playing a leading role in the world in the sphere of export of military production is a sign that the Russian defense industry has not only survived but has a powerful potential for further development," Sergei Chemezov, the head of the state arms-export monopoly Rosoboronexport, told a political meeting late last year.

Russian defense budgets have been soaring since Putin came to power, buoyed by a rising tide of petroleum income, and are set to jump by 23 percent in 2007 to a post-Soviet high of $32.4 billion. Moscow does arms business with over 70 countries, including China, Iran, and Venezuela, and in 2006 exported $6 billion worth of arms.

"Under Putin there has been a wish and an attempt to go beyond the Soviet inheritance," in developing high-tech military capabilities, says Ivan Saffranchuk, Moscow director of the independent World Security Institute. "Now there's cash, and a good political situation, to intensify that effort."

Missiles for Iran* Last week Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov unveiled a $189 billion rearmament program that will replace about half of Russia's current military equipment by 2015. Among the armed forces' acquisitions will be a completely revamped early-warning radar network, new intercontinental missiles, a fleet of supersonic Tu-160 strategic bombers, and 31 new warships, including aircraft carriers.

* Last month Mr. Putin offered to partner with India to build a futuristic "fifth generation" fighter plane, which Russian designers is already under development and could be flying as early as 2009. Only the US has so far managed to field one of these new era combat jets - which have breakthrough capabilities of stealthiness, supersonic cruising, ultramaneuverability and over-the-horizon electronic visibility. And at $260 million per model, the new F/A-22 Raptor is by far the world's most expensive warplane.

* Russia is already supplying India with the Sukhoi-30MKI, an advanced "fourth generation" warplane that consistently defeats its Western counterparts, such as the frontline US fighters, the F-15C and F-16. Versions of the Su-30 are also being sold to China, Venezuela, and Malaysia.

* At a recent press conference, Putin said that Russia has nothing to fear from US missile defense systems because the new Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile has stealth characteristics that enable it to penetrate the American shield. "But this is not all," he added, mentioning a "new generation ... of strategic weapons systems," against which missile defense systems would be "powerless."

* In January, Moscow announced it had completed deliveries of 29 sophisticated Tor-M1 mobile antiaircraft batteries to Iran, and Mr. Ivanov hinted that Russia might also supply S-300 long-range air defense weapons. Experts believe that the Tor-M1, which can track 48 targets simultaneously, could seriously complicate any potential air strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

"The Tor, in combination with the S-300, would provide a large envelope of protection to the Iranian nuclear complex," says Ariel Cohen, an analyst with the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington.

* According to Russian media reports, last year Israel complained to Moscow over Hizbullah's use of Russian-made antitank missiles, which inflicted serious casualties and inhibited Israel's armored mobility, during last summer's war in Lebanon. The Israeli media pointed to the Kornet-E, a new laser-guided rocket that can punch through meter-thick armor at a range of five kilometers, which Russia has officially provided to Syria. Russia denied that the weapons might have been diverted to Hizbullah, however.

Key supplier for 'rogue regimes'The former USSR maintained a sprawling military-industrial complex that absorbed as much as a third of the country's GDP. With the demise of the Soviet Union, defense budgets imploded, the Russian armed forces virtually halted procurement of new weapons, thousands of factories went bankrupt, and skilled workers migrated en masse to other jobs.

Though capital is now flowing back into the defense sector, experts doubt that the Putin-era increases are enough to restore the vast web of specialized industries that kept the Soviet military machine supplied with everything from bullets to antisatellite missiles.

"There have been dramatic increases in procurement funds, but this is not being used efficiently," says Alexander Golts, a military expert with the online newspaper Yezhednevny Zhurnal. "I am dubious about Russia's ability to produce weapons of a truly new generation."

Most Russian arms exports during the 1990s involved sell-offs of Soviet-era stockpiles, including small arms, armored vehicles, and older aircraft. Those fueled vicious wars in Africa and the former Yugoslavia, but did not worry the West much. But Putin-era sales have shifted increasingly to sophisticated weapons, including warplanes, precision-guided munitions, and advanced air-defense systems.

"The US still has a solid lead in the top end of weaponry," says Mr. Cohen. "But at the next level Russia is advancing fast. Geopolitically, it is cornering the market for rogue regimes, such as Iran and Venezuela, and this is most worrisome."

Overhaul neededExperts say that about 1,550 Russian firms are now involved in arms production, and they have proven adept at modernizing Soviet designs. For example, the Su-30, which accounted for almost half of all Russia's arms-export earnings in 2005, is a development of the USSR's Su-27 frontline combat jet.

But fresh products, such as Sukhoi's new T-50 "fifth-generation" fighter, could give the industry a needed boost.

"The situation in our military-industrial complex is improving, and this [fifth- generation] project will change our position radically," says Konstantin Makiyenko, deputy director of the independent Center of Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in Moscow. "If India agrees to participate, the [financing] will be better. It could give a big boost to many branches of our military industry."

Still, some experts say that sweeping reforms and more state funding are needed before Russia's arms industry can resupply a flagging military machine with cutting-edge weapons, much less compete globally with Western arms merchants.

"We need a completely new military industry, not just remnants of the old one," says Vitaly Shlykov, a former Soviet war planning official and member of the Russian Defense Ministry's public advisory council. "And these new defense industries will need a lot of attention, and an influx of resources on the level that today is only going into the oil and gas industry."

[Ninjafied]

Absolutely, see Iran, NK, Venezuela, China, Russia, etc... Bush has another feather in his cap.

Let us not forget about a nuclear India and Pakistan, and their little ongoing border dispute.
And there was that Paki scientist that facilitated numerous nuke programs, contributing to other arms races.

BTW I’m not trying to stick a feather in anybody’s cap with that point.

[defenseman]

Let us not forget about a nuclear India and Pakistan, and their little ongoing border dispute.
And there was that Paki scientist that facilitated numerous nuke programs, contributing to other arms races.

BTW I’m not trying to stick a feather in anybody’s cap with that point.

It'll get blamed on Bush, don't worry. No dem president has ever done anything wrong on the orangemane...dman

[Bronco Bob]

Let us not forget about a nuclear India and Pakistan, and their little ongoing border dispute.
And there was that Paki scientist that facilitated numerous nuke programs, contributing to other arms races.

BTW I’m not trying to stick a feather in anybody’s cap with that point.

Also Japan has 4.7 tons of plutonium stockpiled from their nuclear reactors.
(A large part of their electricity is generated by nuclear reactors and
plutonium is a by-product of a nuclear reactor). That's enough for
around 600 nuclear bombs. So Japan is in effect a de-facto nuclear power also.

[mhgaffney]

The Bush administration has created this mess -- though Clinton set the stage in many ways. d-man you are wrong on this point. I am perfectly willing to assign blame where it belongs. Clinton almost sparked a nuclear war by bombing Yugoslavia in 1999.

What I do NOT understand is the unwillingness of people to do anything about the situation. Are we so narcotyzed, brain washed and complacent we can no longer act? In that case we are already dead.

I say we are the people. Power rests with us. Does not our Constutition begin with the words, "We the people..."

Get on the horn to Washington. Squawk at your representative and senator. Tell them to stop Bush. We can't wait for the next election.

Also, tell them to investigate Bush's crimes.

If Bush is going to take the next step in his wet dream of remaking the MIddle East he must act this year -- probably within the next 2 months. By next year his bubble will have burst. He will be on the run. He must act now...

Here is the Capitol Hill switchboard number: 202 -224 -3121

Don't wait

[loborugger]

I have some friends that have worked at the US Embassy in Moscow. To a person, they will all tell you that the Cold War never ended. We are still enemy/rival #1. Spying is at an all time high - which makes sense with Putin's KGB roots and all. While there arent as many nukes pointed our way, and Soviet convential forces have not only withdrawn from Eastern Europe but are in a state of decay, Russia still regards us as a rival.

[-Slap-]

Of course Putin would react this way. Bush has weakened the US both militarily and financially and morale among our troops has never been lower. Why wouldn't the Russians and Chinese sense this and respond accordingly?

See, the Bush Administration's plan was simply to carve up and redistribute as much wealth as possible amongst themselves and their cronies. They thought the real world ramifications would just be dead American soldiers and dead Iraqis, which was perfectly acceptable to them as the cost of doing business.

I honestly don't believe anybody there really thought things out much beyond that point. Hell, if Republicans had any concern about the impact of their actions, they would have learned their lessons from the Reagan Administration's middle east policies. The disastrous ramifications from their meddling in that region of the world will be felt for generations to come.

Of course, Ronnie ended the cold war, right? I know everybody remembers that Big Lie.

[Pendejo]

Of course Putin would react this way. Bush has weakened the US both militarily and financially and morale among our troops has never been lower. Why wouldn't the Russians and Chinese sense this and respond accordingly?

See, the Bush Administration's plan was simply to carve up and redistribute as much wealth as possible amongst themselves and their cronies. They thought the real world ramifications would just be dead American soldiers and dead Iraqis, which was perfectly acceptable to them as the cost of doing business.

I honestly don't believe anybody there really thought things out much beyond that point. Hell, if Republicans had any concern about the impact of their actions, they would have learned their lessons from the Reagan Administration's middle east policies. The disastrous ramifications from their meddling in that region of the world will be felt for generations to come.

Of course, Ronnie ended the cold war, right? I know everybody remembers that Big Lie.

I have no recollection of that.

[cutthemdown]

we need to expand are armed forces big time!!!!. Troops getting burned out is a big problem right now. These soldiers are very willing to fight but they need some rest and are spread to thin.

[TailgateNut]

we need to expand are armed forces big time!!!!. Troops getting burned out is a big problem right now. These soldiers are very willing to fight but they need some rest and are spread to thin.

Each and every Bush-plan supporter should send at least one of their children off to boot camp!

[defenseman]

Each and every Bush-plan supporter should send at least one of their children off to boot camp!

I'm sending two over the next two years, of their own choice I might add. Next demand of those who have free will? You, are dead wrong...dman

[Bronco_Beerslug]

I'm sending two over the next two years, of their own choice I might add. Next demand of those who have free will? You, are dead wrong...dmanSo no, you're not sending them or yeah, you are sending them?

I've never heard of making someone do something "of their own choice".