Against the background of the latest events taking place on the international arena, words about the beginning of a new Cold War are heard more and more often. Moreover, some analysts are trying to predict the start of a full-scale conflict that risks becoming the Third World War. In this regard, the public and specialists are showing increasing interest in the military capabilities of the leading countries, primarily the United States and Russia. Attempts are being made to consider the capabilities of their armed forces, to assess the power and capabilities in a real conflict.
On January 27, the American edition of The Inquisitr published an interesting article titled World War 3: Russia’s Nuclear Weapons Upgraded, U. S. Missile Defense Can't Stop Them, Claim Russians (“World War III: Russian nuclear weapons are being renewed, but US missile defense cannot counteract them”). The author of the publication tried to consider the latest events in Russia regarding the renewal of the strategic nuclear forces.
According to an employee of The Inquisitr, the United States and Russia continue to add fuel to the fears of World War III. So, now the Russian Deputy Prime Minister claims that in the event of a full-scale conflict with an exchange of nuclear missile strikes, the American missile defense system will be powerless and will not be able to prevent the delivery of warheads to the targets.
The publication recalls that the United States Navy, together with several companies, is currently testing a prototype of the so-called. rail gun. In a few years, a promising weapon system should receive a new projectile that will allow it to shoot down cruise missiles during flight. At the same time, Russia is increasing the pace and volume of building new submarines for its fleet. In 2015, it is planned to lay down five submarines at once, while the United States intends to withdraw two submarines from the fleet by the end of the year.
In addition, Russia has some groundwork for modernizing its strategic nuclear forces. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the defense industry in general and nuclear missile projects in particular, recently spoke about new developments. On the air of the Russia 1 TV channel, D. Rogozin said that Russian specialists had made a technical breakthrough, which would make it possible to overcome the enemy's anti-missile defense.
Unfortunately, the mentioned development is still secret, which is why the Deputy Prime Minister refused to disclose any details. Nevertheless, he noted that the studies carried out show the high characteristics of the proposed solution. The existing or prospective anti-missile systems of the United States will not be able to effectively counter the updated strategic nuclear forces of Russia. The Inquisitr believes that new developments may change the "rules of the game".
However, there is also an alternative opinion. As an example of such views on the situation, the American publication cites the words of the former head of the Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation of the Russian Defense Ministry, Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, according to which the likelihood of the outbreak of World War III was quite high. At the same time, the situation made it possible to analyze the current state of Russia's strategic nuclear forces. According to L. Ivashov, the attempt of the Russian armed forces to carry out a preventive nuclear missile strike should have ended in failure. As an argument in favor of this version, a grouping of American ships equipped with BIUS Aegis is cited.
L. Ivashov sums up: the United States intends to destroy Russian missiles at the acceleration stage of the trajectory. After that, ships with the Aegis system and interceptor missiles must eliminate the warheads of the missiles that managed to pass the booster section. The Americans are doing everything possible to reduce the potential of Russian missiles and reduce the possible damage from their attack.
The Inquisitr also recalls the statements made by D. Rogozin during his service as Russia's Permanent Representative to NATO (2008-2011). Then the official regularly reminded that the United States missile defense system under construction is a direct threat to the security of Russia. Official Washington has constantly justified its work by the fact that the European NATO countries need a means of protection against Iranian missiles. As a result, the work did not stop. Both ground and naval missile defense components were developed.
The recent annexation of Crimea to Russia and the current Ukrainian crisis have changed the international landscape. Some US congressmen have argued that the Russian military has already deployed nuclear weapons in Crimea. In addition, the recent actions of the Russian authorities are recommended to be regarded as "the beginning of the invasion." In response, it is proposed to prepare bases for the deployment of "dual-purpose" aircraft, as well as to deploy nuclear weapons in advanced areas.
The Inquisitr mentions that some representatives of the US authorities have already suggested that the military department consider the possibility of deploying ground-based cruise missiles in Europe.
The article we reviewed World War 3: Russia’s Nuclear Weapons Upgraded, U. S. Missile Defense Can't Stop Them, Claim Russians is of certain interest in the context of the hypothetical transition of relations between the two countries from political confrontation to a real conflict. The United States and Russia have powerful strategic nuclear forces, as well as a number of anti-missile systems. Thus, both countries pose a serious threat to each other.
Nevertheless, the Russian and American military are trying to maintain the existing parity or increase their capabilities using asymmetric methods. The United States has high hopes for a missile defense system consisting of several components of various bases, and Russia intends to respond to the emergence of missile defense by developing and implementing new means of overcoming it.
A few days ago, Russian Deputy Prime Minister D. Rogozin spoke about the existence of new developments in the field of overcoming existing and future missile defense systems. The details of this project still remain a mystery, but there is every reason to believe that such a development can have a great impact on the existing situation in the field of strategic weapons.
The development of strategic nuclear forces and countermeasures continues against the backdrop of the Ukrainian crisis and international disputes over Crimea. In particular, all this translates into proposals of an unfriendly or even aggressive nature. For example, NATO is already planning to strengthen the grouping of its forces in Eastern Europe by creating new rapid reaction forces. In addition, it is proposed to deploy new weapons, including nuclear ones, in European countries.
Thus, the actions of the two parties, taken recently and planned for the near future, can have very different consequences. They are quite capable of leading to a new Cold War like the one that took place in the second half of the last century. Despite the risks associated with such a development of events, potential participants in the confrontation continue to defend their interests without fear of quarreling with each other. As a result, the United States continues to build missile defense systems in Eastern Europe, NATO is strengthening its troops in this direction, and Russia is forced to respond by reforming its armed forces and creating new systems that can withstand the latest foreign developments.
