link here
17 November 2004 -- President Vladimir Putin said today that Russia is developing a new form of nuclear missile unlike that of any other country and unlikely to be matched by others
He said he expects the missile to be in service in the next few years, but gave no further details.
"We will continue to persist in consistently building up the armed forces, in general, including its nuclear component. We are not only doing research and successful testing of new nuclear missile-systems technologies," Putin told his armed-forces chiefs in Moscow today. "I am sure that, in the near future, these weapons will appear -- systems that other nuclear powers do not and will not possess."
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said earlier this month that Russia expected to test-fire a mobile version of its Topol-M ballistic missile this year and that production of the new weapon could be commissioned in 2005.
Now why would Putin announce this? Perhaps to preempt Bush's renewed push for a missile defense program. We know that both Putin's new nukes and Bush's missile defense are in violation of the ABM treaty. Here is some more info from Al Jazerra on the ABM Treaty and the nature of these new nukes:
The technology race began again after the United States announced plans in 2001 to develop a missile defense shield in abrogation of its 1972 ABM Treaty with Moscow.
Washington argues its shield would only be capable of defending the United States from attacks from so-called "rogue states", and could not stand up to Russia's massive Soviet-era nuclear arsenal.
However, Putin has since mentioned plans for Russia to also develop a similar system along with new types of intercontinental missiles that Moscow claims could penetrate any space shield put up by the United States.
The ITAR-TASS news agency speculated that Putin was referring to the mobile Topol-M missile which is analogous to an US Minuteman-3 and is meant to form the backbone of Russia's future nuclear arsenal.
The Topol-M is the first intercontinental missile developed by Russia after the Soviet Union's collapse, but its deployment - initially set for the end of 2002 - has been repeatedly delayed because of severe cash constraints.
The ITAR-TASS report quoted the missile's Moscow producer as saying that mass production of the Topol-M will be included in the military's 2005 procurement budget. This would mean they would be issued to the armed forces in 2006.
Of course Chechyna probably plays into this as well, as Bush would be unlikely to criticize Russia who has become an unlikely ally due to the problems with terrorism in the region. Although Putin in the Al-Jazerra article above noted that terrorism and nuclear weapons were separate concerns.
According to this article, the reason for these new nukes is the desire to maintain equity with the United States with regard to nuclear arsenals.
However Putin has since mentioned plans for Russia to also develop a similar system along with new types of intercontinental missiles that Moscow claims could penetrate any space shield put up by the United States.
Kerry's criticism of Bush's actions regarding the development of new nukes seems very relevant now.