Russia long-range missile test a success

[inanna]

Source: Washington Post

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia successfully tested a long-range Topol missile designed to avoid detection by anti-missile defence systems from its Plesetsk launch site, a Russian military spokesman said on Thursday.

"The launch was specially tasked to test the missile's capability to avoid ground-based detection systems," said Colonel Alexander Vovk of the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces.

Washington and Warsaw formally signed a deal last week to station elements of a U.S. missile defence shield in Poland, a move that has aggravated Russian-Western tensions already raw from Moscow's intervention in Georgia.

Russia has heaped scorn on the missile defence system, which the U.S. says is aimed at Iran, and through its Foreign Ministry last week vowed "to react, and not only through diplomatic protests."


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/28/AR2008082800948.html

[RethugAssKicker]

1. What do we expect?... Our policies are making this world

much more dangerous.

[Ian David]

2. Welcome to The New Cold War. Heckuva job, Bushies! n/t

[Ian David]

3. Phase 1: Missile Shield. Phase 2: ? Phase 3: Peace. n/t

[daleo]

13. Here's hoping phase 2 isn't Armageddon

And phase 3 isn't the peace of the grave.

[Joanne98]

4. HAHAHA!

[thunder rising]

5. Here we go!!

[pampango]

6. If this is Russia's "non-diplomatic" response to a small number of Polish ABM's,

the West is probably happy. Russia has obviously been developing this technology for a long time. It's not the kind of thing you research and test within a couple of weeks. They would have tested it sooner or later anyway.

It is something we already have and shows the folly of thinking you can develop a defense against massive missile attack. Star Wars just ain't gonna work.

As a defense against an unlikely Russian attack, the small Polish ABM deployment is a waste of money, since Russia could easily get past it even without the ability of its missiles to "avoid ground-based detection systems".

As a political maneuver to attempt to ensure that the US and NATO will come to Poland's defense, it is a panicky move in response to what has happened in Georgia. Poland already belongs to NATO, so NATO is already committed to coming to its defense. These missiles don't do anything to add to that.

[frankieT]

7. This missile shield was scheduled long before South Ossetia's crisis

It certainly cannot help in case of an all out nuclear war, nevertheless it weakens Russia. Let's imagine that US sends a couple of cruise missiles on a russian target or one of its allies. Russia cannot respond to that with a couple of cruise missiles on Poland ! They have to up the ante immediately, that's the problem for russians.
Besides Russia fear that these few interceptors become dozens and hundreds in the near future. If they allow 10 interceptors to protect Poland from IRAN (wink - wink) how can they stop US from putting 500 hundreds of them later ?

[bdab1973]

14. So?

They would have to have well over 2,500 interceptor missiles, and that's IF the missiles could guarantee 100% accuracy every time (which they can't). Russia still has in possession over 2,000 ICBM warheads, and an unknown number of tactical nuke warheads (probably also in the thousands). 10 interceptor missiles threatening Russia? It would be a joke if it wasn't for the fact that Russia is using it as an excuse to launch an arms race.

[endarkenment]

9. tip of the iceberg

the polish site is intended to be one of many that will ring China and Russia - and they will respond with rebuilding MIRV systems and/or other destabilizing offensive systems aimed at taking out the abm sites that will overwhelm anything our hugely expensive abm sites can handle.

"The RS-24 is a MIRVed version of the operational Topol-M (SS-25), carrying up to 10 independently targetable warheads.

The R-500 is a new cruise missile adapted for the Iskander launcher previously used only with tactical ballistic missiles. With a range of up to 280 km (170 miles), a radar-evading trajectory and a hit error of no more than three meters, it can be effectively used against small targets, including separate missile launchers."

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Russian_Officials_Tout_Iskander_MIRV_As_21st_Century_ABM_Buster_999.html

[pampango]

10. Could lead to an expensive arms race. That will be costly to Russia and the US.

Interesting to see if their economy can handle that better than the Soviet economy could and if our weakened economy can handle it as well as we could in the seventies and eighties.

[amandabeech]

12. We'll just outsource this to Vietnam. China's too expensive. n/t

[Ed76638]

8. My feelings on this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSklJQmfbzM

[LeftHander]

11. Must of hit the Bayer plant....

lol