ne bih se slozio...ako Kinezi nastave da se kote po Sibiru i da kopiraju  i kradu ruske ideje i izume,e onda ce im mozda i biti neprijatelji(i ja bih pizdeo da vekovima sacuvam narod od nekih losih stranih uticaja i dogadjaja,a da me na kraju pojedu Kinezi),ali dokle god ima amera(a nazalost,bice ih...),ali i mnogih drugih faktora(ugovora,saradnje,interesa.itd...)Kina i Rusija ce biti jaki saveznici,i gotovo nezaustavljive sile.

Russia could focus on tactical nuclear weapons for subs

23/03/2009 12:43 MOSCOW, March 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russia may prioritize the development of nuclear-powered attack submarines armed with nuclear-capable cruise missiles in the future, while maintaining its fleet of strategic subs, a senior Navy official said.

The Russian Navy maintains a fleet of about 60 submarines, including 10 nuclear-powered strategic submarines, over 30 nuclear-powered attack submarines, diesel-electric submarines and special-purpose subs.

"Probably, tactical nuclear weapons [on submarines] will play a key role in the future," Vice Admiral Oleg Burtsev, deputy head of the Navy General Staff, told RIA Novosti. "Their range and precision are gradually increasing."

"There is no longer any need to equip missiles with powerful nuclear warheads. We can install low-yield warheads on existing cruise missiles," he said.

The admiral mentioned Russia's new Severodvinsk nuclear-powered attack submarine, which will be commissioned with the Navy in 2010-2011, as an example.

The fourth-generation Graney class submarine combines the ability to launch a variety of long-range cruise missiles (up to 3,100 miles) with nuclear warheads, and effectively engage hostile submarines and surface warships.

However, Russia will maintain and upgrade its fleet of strategic submarines, carrying ballistic missiles, as a naval component of the nuclear triad.

"In this regard, we will build at least six Borey-class strategic submarines to serve in the Northern and the Pacific fleets," Burtsev said.

The first Borey-class submarine, the Yury Dolgoruky, was built at the Sevmash plant in northern Russia, and is undergoing mooring trials. It will carry up to 16 Bulava-M sea-based ballistic missiles.

Two other Borey class nuclear submarines, the Alexander Nevsky and the Vladimir Monomakh, are currently under construction at the Sevmash shipyard and are expected to be completed in 2009 and 2011.

Why Russia's army needs reform

23/03/2009 16:21

MOSCOW. (Nikita Petrov, special for RIA Novosti) - Several days have passed since the extended meeting of the Defense Ministry's Board, and the Russian and foreign media still continue to comment on the reports that were made there.

Some journalists and military analysts have interpreted these reports as they saw fit rather than objectively.

The Times, a British daily newspaper, described Dmitry Medvedev's speech as hawkish. The respectable Wall Street Journal proved to be quite a surprise as well. In its article about this meeting, "Kremlin Signals a Harder Line on Relations with the U.S.," the paper wrote that "Russian President Dmitry Medvedev struck a Cold War tone on Tuesday, pledging to press ahead with an ambitious rearmament program in response to what he described as NATO's military expansion close to Russia's borders."

The president spoke about the re-equipment of the Russian army, to be carried out on a large scale after 2011. He said, in part: "There is always the risk of local crises and international terrorism. Attempts to expand the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on the borders of our country continue. All this requires a qualitative modernization of our Armed Forces to give them a new, forward-looking perspective."

Those who wish to do so may check this on the Kremlin's website (http://www.kremlin.ru) or the Defense Ministry's website (http://mil.ru) where Medvedev's speech is published in full.

What does this have to do with hawkish policy? The Pentagon's budget for this year is about $600 billion as compared with Russia's defense budget of about $40 billion. I give approximate figures because exchange rates are volatile. Reproaching Russian leaders for taking care about the combat ability of their army with such a gap in military budgets is inappropriate, to put it mildly.

Last August's five-day conflict in the Caucasus showed that the Russian army's re-equipment is an urgent task. The 58th Army sustained heavy losses for its lack of modern means of reconnaissance, communication, targeting, navigation, radio-electronic warfare, and night vision. In his speech on March 17, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov quoted a striking figure: "Only 10% of domestic arms and military equipment meet modern requirements." This is why the Russian army needs re-equipment, even in the conditions of the financial crisis.