From YouTube: Russia is capable of striking a "painful blow" to NATO, if the alliance, for example, gets involved in the war in Ukraine. Here is the top five of weapons that, according to Western analysts, make Russia a dangerous opponent in case of war.
Operational tactical missile complex Iskander comes first. Its missiles are highly accurate and can hit targets at a distance of 400 km. They can maneuver when flying and strike moving targets. Iskander gives the Russian army an opportunity to hit targets located deep inside Europe.
Next on the list is the family of Su-27 fighters. They were a response of the USSR to American fighter F-15. Su-27 has high speed, extensive flight range and incredible maneuverability. The Su-27 aircraft can confront the fighters made with the use of Stealth technology.
The third most dangerous weapon of Russia is anti-aircraft missile system S-400 "Triumph". For NATO forces, losing even one fighter aircraft is akin to "a national financial disaster." S-400 has three types of missiles, and all of them were designed to destroy air targets. Long-range missiles can hit targets at distances of up to 400 km, while shorter-range missiles are capable of hitting fast-moving and maneuverable targets. In addition, the "Triumph" can also destroy ballistic missiles. The S-400, deployed in the Kaliningrad enclave, may pose a threat even to NATO military operations taking place inside Europe.
Submarines of Project 971 "Pike-B", come fourth one the list. During the 1980s and 1990s, the Soviet Union and then Russia built 15 submarines. As of today, Russia has nine subs of the class. They have a wide arsenal of weapons, including torpedoes and cruise missiles, capable of striking both sea- and ground-based targets. This means that a large part of NATO coastline can be in danger.
And finally, another formidable weapon in the hands of Moscow is special forces. Although this type of forces is not a weapon in the technical sense of the word, this is one of the most effective tools in the Russian arsenal.
18 comments:
What about ICBM?
Seems a good list, especially when you consider the possible export potential for s400 (s300 is certainly fearsome as well). That is a very powerful asset to have.
Of course, Maskarovska is exportable as well!
I was reading about their chemical/biological program and how they would equip their ICBMs with warheads containing multiple strains of bacteria and viruses to completely inundate the targets. Considering the virulence of these bugs and the massive stockpiles allegedly in waiting, I'd say their biological program is pretty scary.
Ropestuff,
Do you have a link?
Thx.
I can't find the specific article I was referencing but here are 3 that are good reads.
http://www.nti.org/country-profiles/russia/biological/
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biopreparat
http://fas.org/news/russia/1995/jptac006_l95060.htm
Soviet "end of the world" doctrine was very specific. In the event of a nuclear with the U.S., Russia was going to throw everything .... nuclear/chemical/biological/etc. .... including the kitchen sink .... at the U.S.. The intent was very clear .... to exterminate the entire American population and to make the U.S. uninhabitable for the few survivors for generations.
Unfortunately Alex .... all the links that I have are in Russian.
But we attacked first with Levi blue jeans.
James .... I am (right now) wearing Levis Strauss. Damn those American jeans .... if fitted right they always make you feel comfortable.
The follow on attack was of course rock and roll. The Politburo never understood that you could never beat the Stones with steel production statistics from the latest "5 Year Plan".
When I was in High School in the 1970s.... I was one of the most popular kids because I had access to music from Great Britain and the U.S. via my family foreign office connections. Led Zeppelin (I still love listening to Stairway To Heaven), The Stones, The Who, Morrison, R&B, Genesis .... I can list them all. And the cherry on the cake was that I was the only one who spoke English adequately enough to understand the lyrics (my translation services were always in demand). But when disco came .... we boogied all night.
Yup .... the old line Communists never had a chance.
This throws a plot twist on the notion of surviving a nuclear war with Russia. Not that we would stand a chance against an all out nuke war anyway, but blanket that post nuclear hellscape with a dozen or more weaponized bugs and game over, lights out. It is clear that nukes are only a part of the MAD scenario, and I'm a little surprised the biological component isn't more publicized.
Ropestuff,
"I'm a little surprised the biological component isn't more publicized." It is and it isn't. It seems to go in cycles driven by Hollywood.
I may remember from a long time ago, that there are some no go areas in the old USSR that were bio-war development areas. Perhaps WNU would know a little something about this.
If I remember right there were/are plenty of very nasty developed bio agents in existence, it was difficulties in delivery systems that tended to discourage the use of them. It seemed they were notoriously hard to deliver and their behavior after delivery was almost impossible to predict.
My uncle on my mother's side was on of the top directors for the Soviet Union's military satellite program. He was privy to a lot of stuff, and as a kid I was always peppering him with questions. In University I was doing a paper on America's Manhattan Bomb Project .... and he gave me a lot of details on Soviet MADD doctrine. Scary shit .... basically they did not care about pinpoint accuracy in their missiles, the thinking was to destroy and kill everything in the U.S.. If a warhead with a chemical/nuclear/biological payload landed in Kansas instead of Washington .... who cares .... we are killing Americans.
Later tonight I am going to try and find an English translation on Soviet MADD policy .... I see the makings of an original and interesting post.
Upon further thought I've realized that the delivery system problems for bio weapons now have an answer. It is of course the suicide jihadi. They can go to the exact desired target and perform the exact type of behavior. All that needs to be done now is matching the correct bio-agent to the right persons. Take an agent that incubates for 7 to 10 days, is transmittable by air, and is initially injected by needle into it's carrier (person of the nationality of the intended target) and send them home for a tour of lets say airports, football games, basketball games, etc. At the end of their operational usefulness commit a petty crime so they are arrested and expose law enforcement officers, facilities, and justice system before they croak. Have only 50 people in the first wave. I can guarantee that ISI, Al Queda, various foreign governments have watched closely our response to this Ebola incident and it isn't too hard to know what lessons they have drawn from it.
Sshhhh, ur giving them ideas.
As far as the efficacy and ease of distribution, it seems to me (not a weapons designer) that the hard part is getting the payload to the target (ICBM) the easy part would be the mechanism that opens the container and allows the contents to slowly sift through the atmosphere. Like popping a giant can of Raid a couple of miles above a target. I just can't imagine that they have so much invested in a program without a plan for delivery. I'd bet all of my chips that Russia knows exactly how to do the deed. As far as the old doctrine of get the payload close enough, that's why they developed such massive munitions like Tzar Bomba, but that was in the early days of the program. I've got to think (wildly speculating again) that in all of these years and numerous space programs later that their targeting systems are much more accurate than ever and "close enough" would now be pretty stinkin close. Back to the comparison of SU-27 to F-15s, they may look similar and be miles apart in sophistication, I wouldn't know, but it sure looks more sophisticated than the 60s versions, and I'm sure their targeting systems have come a very long way.
I'm thinking the idea of the Wolverines fighting off the Russians in America is more of a fairy tale than the most outlandish concept Disney has ever come up with. I think we must now be so far beyond surviving a Red Dawn that at best that movie is only a feel good propaganda film to make Americans feel more at ease. If Russia ever cut loose... ...the fat lady will sing.
If the bog boys want to play, where does that leave a Yang / Kom mutt?
Somewhat further behind. By orders of magnitude.
I hope. I would expect bio weapons to far out number nukes though, and expect more ways to deliver them. Hopfully the world need never know.
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