US Will Be “Defenseless” Against New Russian Nuclear Sub Equipped With Hypersonic Missiles

 

The Soviet-era arms race between the US and Russia is officially back on.

To wit, Moscow is reportedly building a fleet of nuclear submarines armed with hypersonic ICBMs capable of delivering a nuclear payload ten times larger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, according to CNBC, which cited a US intelligence report on the new weapons. Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted at six new super weapons during a speech back in March where he also revealed that Russia is working on a nuclear missile capable of evading NATO’s ring of ABM defenses.

Russia Unleashes Test ICBM Barrage

(Photo Credit: Russian Defense Ministry)

 

This was the first time a four-missile salvo of the new Bulava ICBM was launched from a submarine.

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The video shows the Borei-class ballistic missile submarine Yuriy Dolgorukiy diving to launch depth and its crew preparing for the launch. Then, it switches to an external view from an observer ship, and shows four Bulava ICBMs being launched in a rapid-fire salvo.

Russia’s Newest Nuclear Submarine Arrives in Pacific Ocean

Now the Russian Pacific Fleet has announced the arrival of its latest nuclear submarine, Vladimir Monomakh, to its new permanent deployment base in the far-eastern Kamchatka Peninsula. The peninsula has access to the Sea of Okhotsk, shared between Russia and Japan and the Bering Sea, shared by U.S. and Russia.

Russia Deployed Over 150 New Warheads in Past Year

U.S. cut warheads by 57 in same period

Russia deployed 153 strategic nuclear warheads over the past year under the New START arms treaty while the U.S. military pared its nuclear forces by 57 warheads, according to State Department figures released last week.

The increase in warheads by Moscow appears to be part of Moscow’s large-scale strategic nuclear forces buildup.

Defense officials disclosed last week that Russia is doubling the number of strategic nuclear warheads and remains over the 1,550 warhead limit set by the 2010 New START arms treaty.

Russian submarine with 20 ICBMs and 200 nuclear warheads is sailing to Syria

Further background information on a previous post.

Ironically, the previous post, originally derived from state-owned propaganda outlet Sputnik News, mentions that the submarine was Arctic-bound for anti-submarine drills. We’ll likely find out within the next few days where it actually winds up — likely in Syrian waters.

 

The world’s largest submarine, the Dmitri Donskoy (TK-208), Nato-coded Typhoon, has set sail for the Mediterranean and is destined for the Syrian coast, debkafile reports exclusively from its military and intelligence sources. Aboard the sub are 20 Bulava (NATO-code SS-N-30) intercontinental ballistic missiles with an estimated up to 200 nuclear warheads. Each missile, with a reported range of 10,000km, carries 6-10 MIRV nuclear warheads.

Russia’s fifth Yasen-class nuclear sub to be laid down on March 19 — source

MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. The fifth Yasen-class multipurpose nuclear-powered submarine will be laid down at the Sevmash shipyard in Northwest Russia on March 19. It will be named Arkhangelsk, a Russian defense industry source told TASS on Friday.

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Yasen is the fourth generation of multipurpose nuclear-powered submarines. They are equipped with the Oniks and Kalibr type missiles. Unlike most Soviet submarine designs, the Yasen-class boats do not make use of a double-hull-instead it has hybrid design with a lighter structure over the vessel’s pressure hull.

Russia Looks to Revive Nuclear Missile Trains to Counter U.S. Attack Capability

Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces are considering bringing back iconic Soviet-era nuclear missile trains as Moscow pumps money into a complete overhaul its aging nuclear arsenal.

According to an unidentified source in the Russian military-industrial complex quoted by the TASS news agency on Thursday, the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology — makers of the Topol, Yars and Bulava missiles — is designing a next-generation missile launching train.

Russia plays nuclear war-games in Barents Region

Russia has over the last 72 hours tested its entire nuclear triad consisting of strategic bombers; submarines and this ICBM launched Saturday morning.

At 09:20 am (Moscow time), this silo-based Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from Plesetsk in Arkhangelsk Oblast. A few minutes later, the dummy nuclear warhead hits its target on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s far eastern corner, the Ministry of Defense reports.

The Ministry adds that the Topol-M missile has an “extremely high accuracy of target destruction.”

Putin promises new weapons to fend Western threats

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia will counter military moves by the U.S. and NATO with an array of new nuclear and conventional weapons, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday as the military successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile from a nuclear submarine.

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Putin accused the West of using the crisis in Ukraine to reinvigorate NATO, warning that Moscow will ponder a response to the alliance’s decision to create a rapid-reaction “spearhead” force to protect Eastern Europe.

The statement appeared to signal that the Russian leader is determined to pursue a tough course in the face of more Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis that has sent Russia-West relations plummeting to their lowest point since the Cold War.

Russian Nuclear Submarine to Test Launch Bulava ICBM Within Two Days: Source

MOSCOW, September 9 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s nuclear submarine Vladimir Monomakh has departed its port to hold a test launch of the intercontinental ballistic Bulava (SS-NX-32) missile in the North Sea, a source in the Sevmash Shipyard told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.

“The nuclear-powered submarine, the Vladimir Monomakh, has left Sevmash, the ship has been preliminarily prepared, and it should return before September 11,” the source said.

Inside the Ring: Russia to test new missile

Russia will test launch a controversial missile over the next several weeks that U.S. officials say is raising new concerns about Moscow’s growing strategic nuclear arsenal and Russia’s potential violations of arms treaties.

The RS-26 missile is expected to be deployed with multiple supersonic, maneuvering warheads designed to defeat U.S. missile defenses in Europe, U.S. officials told Inside the Ring.

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“The Russians are advertising this as a system capable of defeating U.S. missile defenses in Europe,” the aide said. “At the same time, the State Department is accepting Russia’s claim that this is an ICBM and doesn’t violate INF. It can’t be both.”

Russia to Up Nuclear Weapons Spending 50% by 2016

MOSCOW, October 8 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is to increase annual spending on nuclear weapons by more than 50 percent in the next three years, a parliamentary defense committee said Tuesday.

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The draft federal budget provides for a 60 percent increase in overall national defense spending by 2016, according to the report, rising from 2.1 trillion rubles this year to 3.38 trillion rubles in 2016.

Russia to beef up strategic deterrence potential

Russia continues along the path of nuclear weapons buildup/modernization while simultaneously selling New Lies for Old to today’s gullible USA, which has suicidally developed the illusion that total disarmament is a demonstration of moral strength and that the Cold War is over because a wall fell in Berlin. The last nuclear missiles built in the United States were in the early 1990’s and are now falling victim to budget cuts, technical issues and loss of effectiveness due to technology gaps.

Russia will continue to increase its potential in air-space forces and other parts of its nuclear deterrence strategy, Chief of Staff said Tuesday.

“(Russia) will beef up its air-space defense capabilities through modernization of its informational and first-strike parts,” Valery Gerasimov told reporters.

Russia to send nuclear submarines to southern seas

The bear is back, while the USA is in retreat.

Russia plans to resume nuclear submarine patrols in the southern seas after a hiatus of more than 20 years following the break-up of the Soviet Union, Itar-Tass news agency reported on Saturday, in another example of efforts to revive Moscow’s military.

The plan to send Borei-class submarines, designed to carry 16 long-range nuclear missiles, to the southern hemisphere follows President Vladimir Putin’s decision in March to deploy a naval unit in the Mediterranean Sea on a permanent basis starting this year.

Silent sub: Russian noiseless Borei class nuclear submarine immersed

While the United States continues to disarm and mothball technology, the Soviets (and Chinese) continue to modernize their forces. From the Soviet state-run Russia Today:

Super-modern, powerful and almost noiseless Russian nuclear submarine Vladimir Monomakh has been put in water to become the third ship of the Borei project. The cruiser is about to begin sea trials and mooring to become fully operational in 2013.

Vladimir Monomakh was laid down at Russia’s largest shipbuilding complex Sevmash, located on the shores of the White Sea in the town of Severodvinsk in northern Russia on March 19, 2006 – the 100th anniversary of the Russian submarine fleet.

Borei-class submarine

Length: 170 m
Beam: 13.5 m
Draught: 10 m
Test depth: 450 m
Displacement:
14,720 tons surfaced
24,000 tons submerged
Speed: 29 knots (54 km/h)
Complement: 107 (55 officers)
Armament: 16-20 × Bulava SLBMs
6 × 533 mm torpedo tubes