Putin inspects Russia's latest missiles

President Vladimir Putin inspected Russia's top-of-the line
intercontinental ballistic missiles this week, hailing their ability
to penetrate prospective missile defenses.

Putin flew by helicopter to a forested area near Teikovo, a small
town about 150 miles northeast of Moscow, to visit a unit of newly
deployed Topol-M missiles mounted on mobile launchers.

After watching the new missiles, Putin said their deployment was a
"serious step forward in strengthening Russia's defense capability."

"It has a stronger survivability, faster launch and an ability to
penetrate any prospective missile defense," Putin said of the new
weapon in televised remarks.

Speaking on a trip to the northern Plesetsk cosmodrome, Putin
described the Topol-M as a "21st century weapon" and said that it
would ensure a "long-term efficiency of Russia's nuclear forces,"
the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

The Topol-M missiles, capable of hitting targets more than 6,000
miles away, have so far been deployed only in silos. The new
version, which is mounted on a heavy off-road vehicle, makes it
harder for an enemy to track it down.

"For the near future, Topol-M will have no rivals in the world,"
Strategic Missile Forces chief Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov said on state
Rossiya television.

Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov had said earlier this year that
Russia's Strategic Missile Forces would get 69 Topol-M missiles by
2015; Russia so far has deployed over 40 silo-based Topol-Ms.

The Topol-M's chief designer, Yuri Solomonov, said earlier this year
that the missile drops its engines at a significantly lower altitude
than earlier designs, making it hard for an enemy early warning
system to detect the launch. He added that his design also ensured
that warheads and decoys closely resembled each other in flight,
making it extremely difficult for a foe to select the real target
from a multitude of false ones.

Russian officials said that Topol-M and the Bulava missile, which is
being developed for the navy, will form the core of Russian nuclear
deterrent forces.

Washington withdrew in 2002 from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile
Treaty in order to deploy a national missile defense shield — a move
opposed by Russia, which described the it as destabilizing and
harmful for global security.

Moscow has also bristled at NATO's eastward expansion and warned
that the redeployment of U.S. forces closer to Russian borders
threatened its security. It particularly criticized U.S. plans to
deploy its missile defense components in Eastern Europe, describing
it as a hostile move.

Amid increasingly strained ties with the United States, Putin has
said Russia needs a strong military to resist foreign pressure.
Windfall oil revenues over recent years have allowed Putin's
government to increase weapons purchases and fund the development of
new weapons.

Full Article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061214/ap_on_re_eu/russia_missiles

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