Much has been made of the newly drafted Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) and President Barack Obama’s plans to revamp the rules of engagement over the use and application of America’s nuclear weapons arsenal. It should not have come as a surprise, the Obama Administration telegraphed this last fall. Critics fear Obama aims to use the new NPR and recently negotiated START Treaty with Russia as a pretext to unilaterally disarm the United States. Others (liberals) contend Obama doesn’t go far enough.
There’s plenty of room for debate over the merits and real world application of the NPR and whether START should be ratified by the U.S. Senate. We’ll let policy wonks battle this out who have far greater expertise on how many missiles our country really needs, whether we still need the TRIAD of missiles, bombers and submarines to launch such weapons, and the nuts and bolts of the rules of engagement.
Instead we’ll just make a few points to consider as Obama looks to set an example in his quest to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
As Obama changes the rules of the game for where and when nuclear weapons can be used, specifically as a first-strike capability, against conventional forces or against non-nuclear powers, don’t forget that just last fall Russia war-gamed a scenario in which nuclear forces were used as a first strike option in Eastern Europe… a direct threat to Western countries, specifically the U.S.
Russia’s “Armed Forces Are Said To Have Carried Out ‘War Games’ In Which Nuclear Missiles Were Fired And Troops Practised An Amphibious Landing On [Poland’s] Coast.” (Matthew Day, “Russia ‘Simulates’ Nuclear Attack On Poland,” Daily Telegraph [United Kingdom], 11/1/09)
• “The Russian air force practised using weapons from its nuclear arsenal, while in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, which neighbours Poland, Red Army forces stormed a ‘Polish’ beach and attacked a gas pipeline.” (Matthew Day, “Russia ‘Simulates’ Nuclear Attack On Poland,” Daily Telegraph [United Kingdom], 11/1/09)
Russia’s War Games Codenamed “West,” Appeared Offensive. “The documents state the exercises, code-named ‘West’, were officially classified as ‘defensive’ but many of the operations appeared to have an offensive nature.” (Matthew Day, “Russia ‘Simulates’ Nuclear Attack On Poland,” Daily Telegraph [United Kingdom], 11/1/09)
Russia’s nuclear war-games followed on the heels of Russia’s declaration that Russia “reserves the right to conduct pre-emptive nuclear strikes” in a clear threat to the “West.”
Russia “Reserves The Right To Conduct Pre-Emptive Nuclear Strikes.” “A top Russian security official says Moscow reserves the right to conduct pre-emptive nuclear strikes to safeguard the country against aggression on both a large and a local scale, according to a newspaper interview published Wednesday.” (David Nowak, “Report: Russia To Allow Pre-Emptive Nukes,” The Associated Press, 10/14/09)
Russia Singled Out The U.S. As A Threat. “Presidential Security Council chief Nikolai Patrushev also singled out the U.S. and NATO, saying Moscow's Cold War foes still pose potential threats to Russia despite what he called a global trend toward local conflicts.” (David Nowak, “Report: Russia To Allow Pre-Emptive Nukes,” The Associated Press, 10/14/09)
Reserve Right To Pre-Emptive Use Of Nukes Against Conventional Forces. “The proposed doctrine would allow for the use of nuclear weapons ‘to repel an aggression with the use of conventional weapons not only in a large-scale but also in a regional and even local war,’ Patrushev was quoted as saying. He said a government analysis of the threat of conflict in the world showed ‘a shift from large-scale conflicts to local wars and armed conflicts.’” (David Nowak, “Report: Russia To Allow Pre-Emptive Nukes,” The Associated Press, 10/14/09)
Let’s not forget that as the debate rages on over what to do with U.S. stockpiles of weapons, including maintaining bombs and delivery systems, and whether or not we should be exploring a new generation of nuclear weapons, the Russians were waiting for the expiration of the START Treaty last year so they could begin manufacturing a next generation intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of evading missile defense systems with multiple independently retargetable reentry vehicles (MIRV).
Russians Waited For The Expiration Of START To Begin Manufacturing The “Next-Generation RS-24 Missiles.” “However, the head of Russia's strategic missile forces, Nikolai Solovtsov, was recently quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that the assembly and deployment of next-generation RS-24 missiles would start once the treaty expires. Analysts said that could happen, because Moscow was not banned from developing new missiles.” (Nicholas Kralev, “Exclusive: U.S. To Stop Counting New Missiles In Russia,” The Washington Times, 12/1/09)
• “The formidable RS-24 ICBM has been nicknamed ‘Son of Satan’ because it will replace the formidable old, and still operational, R-36M ICBMs -- NATO designation SS-18 Satan -- that were developed by the Soviet Union in the late 1970s.” (Martin Sieff, “Russia Pushes Ahead With RS-24 Super-ICBM Deployment,” UPI, 3/27/09)
The “New RS-24 Missiles Equipped With State-Of-The-Art Systems To Help Penetrate A Missile Shield.” (Vladimir Isachenkov, “Russia Upgrades Missile To Evade U.S. Arms,” The Associated Press, 12/1/08)
“The Multiple Independently Retargetable Re-Entry Vehicle (MIRV) Intended To Arm The Russian RS-24 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Will Be A Completely New Design. . .” (“RS-24 Will Have MIRVs Of All-New Design,” Jane’s, 9/29/08)
ThinkFY's full feed