Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

Russia to Maintain Nuclear Parity with US — DM Ivanov
Created: 01.10.2004 17:34 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 17:59 MSK, 7 hours 42 minutes ago

See also: Missile Defense To Tie U.S. To Iraq, Afghanistan, Caspian, #msg-3972175

In the first step toward erecting a multibillion-dollar shield to protect the United States from foreign missiles, the U.S. Navy will begin deploying state-of-the-art destroyers to patrol the waters off North Korea as early as next week.
#msg-4129889

"However, the very geography of the radar in Greenland gives us reasons to think that even at this stage the US missile defence could potentially threaten Russia's national security."

Reports earlier this year that Washington planned to deploy elements of its missile shield on the territories of new NATO members in Eastern and Central Europe alarmed Moscow.
#msg-3767753

Can't blame Russia, Bush is putting missiles everywhere.

-Am

Russia will purchase four new nuclear-capable inter-continental ballistic missiles next year as part of its plans to maintain the nuclear balance with the United States, its defense minister said on Friday.

“We will purchase as many as is necessary to maintain genuine nuclear parity —- not parity as we had in the Cold War but taking into account the security interests of the state,” Interfax news agency quoted Sergei Ivanov as saying.

He said the four new rockets would be ground-based and would play their part in Russia’s overall nuclear defenses that also include sea- and air-delivered nuclear systems.

President Vladimir Putin sees as a priority the modernization of Russia’s armed forces, aimed at turning the neglected and ineffective monster, inherited from the Soviet Union, into a compact and sophisticated battle force.

Upgrading Russia’s nuclear arsenal, most of which is about to serve out its term, is one of the key tasks set by Putin.

Russia’s military budget has considerably grown since Putin came to power in 2000. More than 470 billion roubles ($16 billion) has been allocated for the defense sector in a draft budget currently under consideration by parliament.

Top Russian military officials say increased spending allows them to place orders for new arms and military hardware unprecedented in post-Soviet Russia.

General Alexei Moskovsky, deputy defence minister in charge of arms procurement, told Interfax news agency earlier this month that the planned 2005 purchases included 300 items, including new Topol-M intercontinental missiles, one TU-160 strategic bomber, several fighter jets and military helicopters.



http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/10/01/nuclearparity.shtml