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Putin Nuclear Comments Probably Described New Submarine-Launched Strategic Missile, Experts Say By Mike Nartker WASHINGTON — Russian President Vladimir Putin was probably referring to the Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile when he commented yesterday on his country’s development of new and unique nuclear weapons systems, according to U.S. and Russian experts (see GSN, Nov. 17). Putin made his remarks during an annual meeting of high-level Russian military officers, according to reports. “We are not only conducting research and successful testing of the newest nuclear missile systems,” Putin was quoted by the New York Times as saying in remarks carried by Russian news agencies and broadcast on NTV. “I am certain that in the immediate years to come we will be armed with them. These are such developments and such systems that other nuclear states do not have and will not have in the immediate years to come.” While Putin did not specify which system he was referring to, U.S. and Russian experts told Global Security Newswire that he was probably speaking of the Bulava SLBM, which is now being developed. The Bulava is the submarine-launched variant of Russia’s Topol-M ICBM, the first to be deployed following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The solid-fueled Bulava has a range of 10,000 kilometers. The missile is believed to be capable of defeating terminal-phase missile defense systems through capabilities such as evasive maneuvering warheads; as well as being equipped with countermeasures and decoys to combat midcourse missile defense systems, said Yuri Yudin of the Analytical Center for Nonproliferation at All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics in the closed Russian city of Sarov. The missile also has new, faster-burning engines, making it less vulnerable to boost-phase defense systems, he said. The missile is also reportedly able to withstand attacks involving laser technology, such as the U.S. Airborne Laser System currently under development (see GSN, Nov. 12). In addition, the Bulava warhead is shielded against radiation and electromagnetic disturbance, Yudin said. “Apparently President Putin kept all those things in mind when he said that ‘they will be developments of the kind that other nuclear powers do not and will not have in the near future,’” Yudin said. The Bulava is also believed to be able to carry as many as 10 warheads, capable of hitting different targets, though with a reduced ability to counter missile defense systems, according to experts. In September, Russia conducted a test involving a mockup of the Bulava system to determine if it could be successfully launched while a submarine is submerged (see GSN, Sept. 8). The test was reported by Russian media to have been a success. The missile is set to be deployed on the new Borey-class nuclear submarine, the first of which is expected to be commissioned in 2006 (see GSN, Aug. 7, 2003). The submarine is expected to carry 12 Bulava missiles, according to reports. The Bulava could also be deployed on land, though it is not yet clear if Russia plans to do so, said Alexander Pikayev of the Carnegie Moscow Center. Such a move could signal a return to MIRV-capable ICBMs, he said, noting that the Topol-M has so far only been deployed with single warheads. Putin’s comments were the subject of questions by reporters at both yesterday’s White House and State Department press briefings. Stressing improved U.S. relations with Russia, Bush administration spokesmen said there was little concern regarding Putin’s remarks. “We have regular, ongoing consultations with the Russians pursuant to our agreements in the Moscow Treaty about weapons modernization programs and about our respective strategic force plans. Those consultations, I think, are very fruitful, they’re consistent, and they give us a very good comfort level about what Russia is doing, and presumably vice versa, about what we’re doing; so we do not perceive Russia's nuclear sustainment and modernization activities as threatening,” State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said. Ereli was referring to the U.S.-Russian Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty, which took effect last year and requires both countries to reduce their numbers of deployed nuclear weapons by 2012. White House press spokesman Scott McClellan noted U.S.-Russian efforts to reduce their nuclear arsenals in his response to questions on Putin’s comments. “We don’t view it as something that is new. It’s something that we are well aware of, that they were working on some modernization efforts for their military,” McClellan said of Putin’s comments. “We have a very different relationship than we did during the Cold War. And we are working together to significantly reduce our nuclear arsenals.” Russian experts said they believed Putin’s remarks were meant to indicate the progress made so far in Russia’s efforts to reform and modernize its military. His remarks also were probably intended to show that despite Moscow’s prior focus on its conventional military forces, its strategic capabilities would not be ignored in the modernization effort, they said. Putin’s remarks may also have been a signal to foreign audiences as well, experts said. “Putin once more reasserted Russia’s status as a great power possessing a credible nuclear deterrent capability,” said Daniil Kobyakov of the PIR Center in Moscow.
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