New Russian missile threat to homeland

Air Force Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, who is also commander of the U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Command (NORAD), said Russia “only recently developed and deployed capabilities to threaten us below the nuclear threshold.” (Associated Press/File)

 

The commander of the military’s Northern Command warned this week that Moscow is deploying conventionally armed missiles that for the first time are capable of striking targets deep inside the United States.

Air Force Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, who is also commander of the U.S.-Canadian North American Aerospace Command (NORAD), stated in prepared congressional testimony that while Russian nuclear missiles have threatened the country for more than 50 years, Moscow “only recently developed and deployed capabilities to threaten us below the nuclear threshold.”

Russian Weapons Circumvent New START Arms Pact

Gen. John Hyten / Getty Images

 

Stratcom wants nuclear torpedo, advanced missiles covered if New START extended

The general in charge of U.S. nuclear forces warned Tuesday that Russia is building three new strategic weapons that circumvent the limits of the New START arms treaty.

Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of the Omaha-based Strategic Command, told Congress he favors requiring limits on the new weapons in any extension of the 2010 strategic arms accord.

Trump vows to outspend Russia without new missile pact

 

President Donald Trump vowed Tuesday that the United States would outspend Russia on missiles without a fresh international accord after he ditched a landmark Cold War treaty.

Trump’s warning during his annual State of the Union address cemented fears of an emerging arms race, with Russia hours earlier pledging to design new missiles over the next two years.

The United States last week started the process of exiting the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, saying that Russia has been violating the pact through a new missile system and ignored repeated complaints.

Putin Announces New Hypersonic Weapon Will Be Deployed In “Months”

Glancing at the current position in the 53.5 Year War Cycle, it seems the “Mid-90s Peace Dividend” has transitioned into the chaotic world of today: Cold War 2.0, but this time — conflict is more likely.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow would deploy new Avangard hypersonic glider warheads in the “coming months,” adding that Russia’s hypersonic program is the most advanced in the world, according to a new report from the Financial Times.

“We are improving our attack systems in response to the construction of a missile defense system by the United States. Some of them are already in service, and some will be supplied in the near future,” said Putin, who was speaking at the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi Thursday, adding that Moscow’s hypersonic weapons program was well ahead of China and the US.

“The Avangard system [will be deployed] in the next few months.” 

“It is a fact of life that we are ahead of all our partners and competitors in this sphere of high precision, hypersonic weapons,” he said.

“No one else has that . . . In that sense, we feel very comfortable, very safe.” 

Russia’s New Weapons: Aircraft Carriers No Longer Rule the Seas

 

The US Navy received the first of its new generation aircraft carriers, USS Gerald R. Ford, on June 1, moving the $13 billion ship closer to becoming operational. It is expected to be commissioned this summer. Two other Ford-class carriers, the John F. Kennedy and Enterprise, are also planned. The ship can carry more aircraft, weapons and fuel with its larger flight deck and features the newly designed electromagnetic aircraft launch system. Once commissioned, the Ford will undergo a series of tests and is slated to be operational in 2020.

She carries 75-90 aircraft. Ships of the Ford class are intended to sustain 160 sorties per day for 30-plus days, with a surge capability of 270 sorties per day.

Russia tests hypersonic missile it says is impervious to U.S. missile defense systems

Russia’s said the Zircon would go into serial production in 2018.

 

Russia has conducted the first test of a hypersonic missile it claims can fly at 6 times the speed of sound and makes U.S. missile defense systems obsolete.

Military analyst Vladimir Tuchkov told government-controlled news agency Sputnik: “It (the Zircon missile system) is expected to be added into Russia’s arsenal between 2018 and 2020.”

Russia’s hypersonic Zircon missile to go into serial production in 2018 — source

Pyotr Veliky nuclear-powered missile cruiser © Lev Fedoseev/ITAR-TASS

 

MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Russia’s cutting-edge hypersonic missile Tsirkon (Zircon), which is now undergoing state tests is expected to go into serial production in 2018, a source in the Russian military-industrial complex told TASS on Tuesday.

Russia Will Build First Hypersonic Missile Before 2020

Russia will build its first hypersonic missile by 2020, according to local state media.

On Thursday Sputnik News Agency, RIA Novosti’s new international brand, cited a senior official at a state-owned Russian defense company as saying that Russia would build its first air-launched hypersonic missiles before 2020.

“In my estimation, the first hypersonic products should appear … in this decade — before 2020. We have approached this. We are talking about speeds of up to six to eight Mach. Achieving higher speeds is a long term perspective,” Sputnik quoted Boris Obnosov, general director of the Tactical Missile Systems Corporation, as saying on Thursday.