Russia Claims New Missle Developments Nullify ABM Systems

ITAR-TASS

Moscow, 28 March: Russia's latest projects in the ballistic weapons field,
which allow for manoeuvring in terms of altitude and course, are an "almost
revolutionary step", according to a senior source in the Russian Defence
Ministry. The source clarified that he was talking of the experiments
conducted during the latest large-scale exercises in Russia. "This is a
serious step that really does change the philosophy of military-strategic
interaction," the source said. According to the expert, "the existence of
such a weapons system nullifies any anti-missile defence system".Russia makes no secret of the fact that it possesses such projects, the
source stressed. He explained that "in the modern world, all secrets remain
secrets for only a short space of time". "Today even strictly guarded
military secrets don't survive for long," he added. the source also
declared that Russia is currently working on the development of its own
anti-missile defence programme.

Russian specialists "have got further than many other countries in certain
areas of ABM development", according to the Defence Ministry. "We are in a
position to analyse and reach proper conclusions about what other countries
are getting right and what they aren't, and to assess the cost and quality
of the work they've carried out." "Given today's nuclear deterrence system
and the latest weapons systems, nothing will threaten us for a long
historical period of time," the Defence Ministry believes. The latest
Russian projects "make it possible to evaluate the quality and cost of the
work that's been done and then to select the optimal and most effective ABM
systems and, if needs be, introduce them in our own country".

The source described this approach as a "measured policy in the strategic
field". This approach, the source stressed, will not require "the enormous
resources that some countries are investing without knowing the result".

According to the Defence Ministry, "for them it is a very risky investment;
we cannot and will not allow ourselves to make such risky investments,
without any detriment to the country's defence capability".