Russia to Test Fire at Least 5 New Ballistic Missiles

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Russia will conduct at least five test launches of a new-generation intercontinental ballistic missile this year, the deputy defense minister was quoted as saying Tuesday.

Col. Gen. Vladimir Popovkin said the Bulava missile needs thorough testing because “the reliability of all aspects of the rocket needs to be achieved” in comments carried by state news agency RIA Novosti.

The submarine-launched Bulava missile has a reported maximum range of about 6,200 miles and capacity for up to six individually targeted nuclear warheads. It has been hailed as a key future component of Russia’s nuclear forces, although mixed results in testing have tempered enthusiasm.

Popovkin, speaking in Istanbul, said if the test launches were successful another five would be scheduled, the agency said.

The Bulava is to be test-fired from the Dmitry Donskoi nuclear submarine this year, Navy Admiral Oleg Burtsev told RIA Novosti separately.

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Official: Cuba, Venezuela May Host Russian Strategic Bombers

A Russian Air Force chief said Saturday that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has offered an island as a temporary base for strategic Russian bombers, the Interfax news agency reported.

The chief of staff of Russia’s long range aviation, Maj. Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev, also said Cuba could be used to base the aircraft, Interfax reported.

The Kremlin, however, said the situation was hypothetical.

“The military is speaking about technical possibilities, that’s all,” Alexei Pavlov, a Kremlin official, told The Associated Press. “If there will be a development of the situation, then we can comment,” he said.

Zhikharev said Chavez had offered “a whole island with an airdrome, which we can use as a temporary base for strategic bombers,” the agency reported. “If there is a corresponding political decision, then the use of the island … by the Russian Air Force is possible.”

Interfax reported he said earlier that Cuba has air bases with four or five runways long enough for the huge bombers and could be used to host the long-range planes.

Two Russian bombers landed in Venezuela last year in what experts said was the first Western Hemisphere touchdown of Russian military craft since the end of the Cold War.

via FOXNews.com - Official: Cuba, Venezuela May Host Russian Strategic Bombers - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News.

Is Russia Biggest Risk To US Security

While all eyes are on the Gaza crisis, the major threat that Russia poses to U.S. security is being overlooked.

Neither the outgoing nor the incoming administrations have effectively addressed the Russia problem. And with President-elect Barack Obama only weeks away from taking office, he must remember Joe Biden’s warning that the incoming president will face an international test within six months of taking office. Russia is that international challenge, and it’s imperative we start paying attention now–because the test has already begun.

The most obvious evidence of this risk came straight from President Dmitry Medvedev’s mouth during an end-of-the-year interview. Medvedev made it clear that military force will continue to be an option for Russia. “Russia’s interests must be secured by all means necessary,” he said. “First of all, by international and legal tools … but, when necessary, by using an element of force.”

Russia also recently announced a massive increase in the size of its military, and it is commissioning the construction of 700 new strategic nuclear weapons. Further, the deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council, General Yury Baluyevsky, has already said his work will inevitably lead to a greater role for the military in the country’s foreign policy, as well as “the legitimate use of nuclear weapons as a tool for strategic deterrence.”

This comes on the heels of unconfirmed reports that Russia agreed to supply an S-300 anti-aircraft system to Iran. Although it hasn’t been verified, the rumor must not be taken lightly. Both Russia and Iran tell inconsistent stories. And if this advanced surface-to-air missile system is sold to Iran, it will make any attack by the U.S. or Israel not only dangerous but also more likely to fail.

Magnifying this danger are new reports claiming that Russia is selling other types of missile systems to Syria, Libya and Venezuela.

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Russian Naval Task Force Led By Aircraft Carrier Docks At Syrian Port

The force, which includes the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, the Admiral Levchenko destroyer and the Nikolay Chiker salvage tug, was due to call in at the Syrian port of Tartus Monday, Jan. 12 after carrying out joint exercises with the Turkish navy last week.

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the arrival of the Russian flotilla in wartime is unusual and especially significant given Syria’s role as one of the staunchest backers of Hamas which is embroiled in a war against Israel further down the coast in Gaza.

Our sources believe Moscow may be signaling its disapproval of Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip.

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that 50 Russian seamen are permanently based at the Syrian maintenance and resupply facility, the only Russian base in the Mediterranean.

Russia is expanding Tartus port, which has six piers and building a pier at a second Syrian port – Latakia.

During the Russian-Georgian War last August, the Russian government decided to turn the Syrian port into a back-up facility for its Black Sea fleet and its base at the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol.

via DEBKAfile - A Russian naval task force led by aircraft carrier docks at Syrian port.

Russia Uses It’s Most Effective Weapon - Gas Monopoly

Cold War Redux is off to an early start this year. Gazprom, Russia’s state within a state natural gas monopoly, shut the taps to Ukraine this morning after talks broke down over 2009 delivery prices.

When Russia cut supplies to Ukraine two years ago in a similar pricing dispute, it caused tremendous consternation in European capitals. Western Europe depends heavily on energy supplies from Russia — and Ukraine is a key transit route for gas. Forget nukes. Russia has found that energy can be a much more effective weapon.

Bloomberg has an excellent roundup of the situation. The takeaway? “The repeat of an energy standoff between the former Soviet neighbors risks further souring Russia’s ties with the West, months after its war with U.S. ally Georgia,” the article notes.

Gleb Pavlovsky, Russia’s Karl Rove, blamed the Ukrainians for trying to start an “artificial crisis” that would worsen relations between Russia and the European Union. “Ukraine deliberately creates the crisis, blackmailing Russia,” he told Interfax.

Nonetheless, Russia is in a somewhat weaker position than it was two years ago. European supplies have diversified, and the once-mighty Gazprom is reeling from a drop in global energy prices.

via Wired.com.

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Russia Build New Nuclear Missiles and Subs

Russia hopes to deploy a new nuclear missile next year designed to penetrate anti-missile defenses and will build eight submarines to carry it, defense officials said on Thursday.

The latest statements underline Moscow’s determination to upgrade its nuclear strike forces on land, sea and air. They are regarded by Russian commanders as the cornerstone of the country’s defenses.

Colonel-General Vladimir Popovkin, head of armaments for the Russian armed forces, told the Defense Ministry newspaper “Red Star” that Russia’s recent war with Georgia “compels us to rethink the current state of the armed forces and how they should develop further.”

President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have both pledged to extend Russia’s recent military build-up with extra funds to buy new, high-tech arms. On Wednesday, Putin announced an extra $3.1 billion of spending next year, partly to replace equipment lost in the Georgia war.

Despite the billions of dollars spent on them since Putin came to power as president in 2000, Russia’s 1 million-strong armed forces remain poorly equipped, badly paid and reliant on a large proportion of unwilling conscripts.

The deputy commander in chief of the Russian navy, Admiral Alexander Tatarinov, said on Thursday that by 2015 Moscow would build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines to carry a new, nuclear-capable strategic missile.

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Russia Preparing For Nuclear Confrontation?

Russia announced an overhaul of its strategic nuclear forces and army yesterday, in the clearest sign yet that Moscow may be preparing for a possible full-scale military confrontation with the US and Nato.

Speaking after Russia carried out its biggest military exercises since the cold war, Dmitry Medvedev, the president, said Russia would build a space defencse system and a fleet of nuclear submarines by 2020.

This summer’s brief war with Georgia, which led to a further rift between Moscow and the west, showed the need for Russia to have a strong military in a state of “permanent readiness”, Medvedev said.

His defence initiative is the biggest in Russia for at least a decade. It comes amid bitter opposition from Moscow to Washington’s plan to site a missile defence system in central Europe - a project the Kremlin says upsets Europe’s strategic balance. The move is also a riposte to US-backed plans for Georgia and Ukraine to join Nato.

Moscow opposes Nato’s further expansion, arguing that it challenges its regional “privileged interests”. Moscow also accuses the US of encouraging, and even participating in, Georgia’s attack on the breakaway enclave of South Ossetia.

“Just recently we had to rebuff aggression unleashed by the Georgian regime. As we discovered, a local smouldering conflict - even occasionally a frozen one - can flare up into a genuine war,” Medvedev said, addressing Russian troops.

He said Russia needed a “guaranteed nuclear deterrent system” in place by 2020. The armed forces had to be prepared for “various political and military scenarios,” he warned.

He promised large-scale construction of warships, including nuclear submarines armed with cruise missiles, and also announced plans for a system of air and space defence. The president promised to improve living conditions for Russian soldiers, as well as better military education and training.

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Putin Responds, “You’ll See” A Response To NATO’s Naval Buildup in Black Sea

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia will respond calmly to an increase in NATO ships in the Black Sea in the aftermath of the short war with Georgia, but promised that “there will be an answer.”

Meanwhile, President Dmitry Medvedev sternly warned the West that it would lose more than Moscow would if it tried to punish Russia with sanctions over the war with Georgia.

Russia has repeatedly complained that NATO has too many warships in the Black Sea. Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Tuesday that currently there are two U.S., one Polish, one Spanish and one German ship there.

“We don’t understand what American ships are doing on the Georgian shores, but this is a question of taste, it’s a decision by our American colleagues,” Putin reportedly said. “The second question is why the humanitarian aid is being delivered on naval vessels armed with the newest rocket systems.”

Russia’s reaction to NATO ships “will be calm, without any sort of hysteria. But of course, there will be an answer,” Interfax quoted Putin as saying during a visit to Uzbekistan.

Asked by exactly what measures Russia would take in response to NATO ships in the Black Sea, Putin was quoted as answering, “You’ll see.”

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Russia Plans To Raise Navy Presence In Syria

The Russian navy will make more use of Syrian ports as part of increased military presence in the Mediterranean, a Russian diplomat said on Wednesday.

The announcement comes as tensions rise between Moscow and the West over Russia’s role in Georgia. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad backed Russia’s recent offensive on Georgia in support of a separatist province during a visit to Russia last week.

“Our Navy presence in the Mediterranean will increase. Russian vessels will be visiting Syria and other friendly ports more frequently,” Igor Belyaev, the Russian charge d’affaires, told reporters in the Syrian capital.

“The visits are continuing,” he added.

Russia relies on Syria’s Tartous port as a main stopping point in the Mediterranean, although ties between the two countries have cooled since the collapse of Communism, when Moscow supplied Syria with billions of dollars worth of arms.

Internet news sites have reported that a Russian naval unit, including the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, docked at Tartous earlier this month.

Belyaev would not be drawn on specifics, or whether new military agreements with Syria were reached during Assad’s meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at a Black Sea resort on Thursday.

“The two leaders gave their directions to advance ties in the economy, trade and energy fields, as well as military cooperation,” he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last week Russia was prepared to sell Syria more arms as long as they do not disturb the “regional balance of power.”

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Syria’s Bid For Missiles Stirs Alarm In Israel

Fears that Russia might sell advanced weaponry to Syria have raised concern in Israel.

Syrian President Bashar Assad, in Russia for talks with President Dmitry Medvedev, has been openly campaigning to acquire weapon systems that include long-range surface-to-surface missiles.

Russian media reports of Mr Assad’s ambitions prompted hand-wringing by Israeli officials on Thursday. Defence Minister Ehud Barak said Israel was analysing the ramifications of Mr Assad’s two-day visit.

The Haaretz newspaper, citing Russian media, said Mr Assad offered to host Iskander missiles, surface-to-surface missiles with a reported maximum range of 270 kilometres, as a response to a deal signed by Washington and Poland this week to deploy elements of a US missile defence system in Poland.

Silvan Shalom, a member of the Knesset, or parliament, said Israel should demand that Moscow refrain from “arming its enemies” because it could destabilise the Middle East.

The deal, however, is far from done. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would consider Syrian requests for arms but added: “We are indeed prepared to sell only defensive weapons which do not violate the regional balance of power.”

Russia Not About To Invade Mideast, Says New Prophecy Theory

Even though Russia has advanced south into Georgia, a best-selling new Bible prophecy book says suggestions this signals an imminent march into the Middle East are mistaken.

Instead, says Bill Salus, author of “Isralestine,” the world is about to be surprised by a different kind of devastating regional war involving Israel and its Arab neighbors.

“Isralestine: The Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East,” currently rising to the top of the prophecy charts, says scholars have missed a significant piece of what the Bible reveals about the future of the region. And it has many of them reconsidering their prophetic model for the near future.

“You can set Russia’s recent invasion of Georgia and Israel’s concern over Iran’s nuclear aspirations on the back burner, not that these topics lack importance,” says Salus. “The stage is not adequately set for the highly publicized Ezekiel 38 and 39 Russian-Iranian nuclear-equipped consortia of nations to invade Israel. Psalm 83 comes first, and then Ezekiel 38 follows on its heels like a Goliath shadow. There are two distinct invasions of Israel, one building upon the other, with both occurring sequentially in the Middle East.”

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