Russia reveals insecurity with claim of new missile

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

President Trump has whipped out a more manly military strategy, and it's got Putin feeling a little small. So, as do all men when the insecurity begins to eat away at them, Vladimir Putin verbally claimed his was bigger.

My first question is how it is that a country with a third world economy who has historically had to steal our technology to jumpstart their own, has suddenly developed James Bond Movie level weapons?

During his annual State of the Union address (is that already a wannabe American thing?) Vladimir Putin has proclaimed that his country has a new prototype missile that "can reach any point in the world" and a supersonic weapon that cannot be tracked by anti-missile systems.  If attacked, Russia is ready to go nuclear.

Putin joked that the two new strategic nuclear weapons he described — the global cruise missile and the subsurface unmanned vehicle — did not have names yet and lawmakers could submit their suggestions via the Defense Ministry website.

"We see increased opportunities with the armed forces," he said. "We've done a lot to strengthen our army and navy and they are equipped with modern weaponry."

A video using computer animation wowed the audience as it showed them how one of the prototype missiles would work, explaining that the new system would have no limitation on range. "It can attack any target, through the North or South Pole, it is a powerful weapon and no missile defense system will be able to withstand," the president said.

Putin promised more was to come, including a "small nuclear power energy system" — a nuclear warhead — that can be deployed on a cruise missile system that can also, he claimed, "avoid all interceptors."

He said the country had tested this cruise missile with the "nuclear power energy unit" in 2017 and it was successful. Russia would start manufacturing this now, he added.

"This is unheard of and nobody else has such a system in the world. They might create something like this in the future but by then our guys will have created something new as well."

Putin's new arms race has him standing a lot more erect, emboldening him to say things like "but even this is not the end."  He then claimed to have a system capable of destroying intercontinental targets with "hypersonic speed."

"I'm pleased to inform you that after certain experiments, we are sure that soon Russia's strategic missile forces will have a new system capable of destroying intercontinental targets with hypersonic speed and high-precision, able to maneuver both in terms of its course and altitude. There are no systems like that in the world."

He said Russia had been open about the development of such a system but that "nobody listened to us, but listen to us now." Lawmakers gave Putin a standing ovation at that point.

Overall, Putin's claim is that Russia has adopted 300 new models of weaponry providing the armed forces with 18 new ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles), and two submarine-based ballistic missiles. He added that the country had commissioned three new nuclear submarines and also increased the number of its high-precision long-range missiles.

He said Russia had developed new weapons as a response to the U.S.' withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty in 2002. The treaty, signed between the U.S. and then Soviet Union in 1972, barred the countries from deploying defenses against strategic ballistic missiles.

Russia has complained repeatedly about the U.S. placing anti-ballistic missile systems on its doorstep, as a result of what it called "eastward NATO expansion", in the form of the global missile defense system in Romania and Poland.

Putin said that if Russia had done nothing in response, its nuclear potential could have been undermined. Instead, Russia had responded by creating weapons that could bypass the U.S.' global missile defense system.

'I'm not bluffing'

My memory hearkens back to Ronald Reagan, who baited Russia to join him in an arms race.  As Russia spent money to keep up, Reagan continued to out maneuver the Soviet Union . . . until eventually the Russian military budget was breaking into the money needed for taking care of the people, and it collapsed the communist country, and eventually led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

While Putin insists that Russia has no plans to attack anybody or to take anything away from anybody, saying "we have everything we need," the reality is that their 3rd World economy cannot sustain the kind of weapon development programs Putin is boasting.

While Putin is shouting, "I'm not bluffing," and that Russia is ready to defend herself, he sounds more like a child in the schoolyard trying to bully everyone into believing his stories of greatness . . . as everyone snickers about his actual shortcomings.

"I hope all these things I have said will sober up any potential aggressor and any unfriendly steps taken towards Russia like deploying missile defense systems and expanding NATO towards our borders."

"Russia's growing military power is just a guarantee of peace on our planet," he insisted, and it would preserve the balance of powers in the world.

Right.  Sure.  You know, it's hard to believe Putin's "we're surrounded by aggressors" moment of crying shortly after his military took Georgia, South Ossetia, Crimea, and invaded Ukraine.

Putin also swung back and forth his claim that Russia is developing new underwater drones that can carry nuclear warheads. These were described as un-manned, noiseless submarines that move at ultra-deep levels and at high speed. "This is just fantastic," Putin said.

"There is no defense system that can cope with such subsurface vehicles that can be equipped with conventional or nuclear weapons, attacking coastal defenses and infrastructure facilities." These underwater drones are 100 times smaller than a conventional submarine, Putin noted.

Trump is watching.  America is watching.  You think you got something, Russia?  I am thinking Putin will fall short if it comes to a moment of "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

In the end, I am thinking Putin's claims are impotent, at best.  Well, at least I hope so.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary