Now Moscow can confront the United States in any conflict – Stern
Washington's costly attempt to neutralize Russia's strategic arsenal has failed, writes the German magazine Stern.
"Last year, Donald Trump announced that he had the biggest nuclear button. After Putin's latest speech, Trump might have to rethink that. The Russian president unveiled an entire arsenal of high-tech weapons," the publication notes.
The publication lists the most dangerous new products of the Russian military-industrial complex: the Sarmat intercontinental missile, the Kinzhal hypersonic complex, the Status-6 unmanned nuclear submarine, the Avangard missile.
But the biggest surprise, the weekly writes, was the news about nuclear-powered cruise missiles.
“How dangerous are these weapons? Short answer: very much. Although with the help of these systems Russia cannot seize power over the world, nevertheless, Moscow can now confront the United States in any conflict. The fact that Russia is looking for ways to overcome the US missile defense shield is nothing new, and has been announced by the Kremlin many times. Compared to the times of the Cold War, a truly new situation has not arisen: once launched, strategic missiles cannot be intercepted, this was the case then and, apparently, is the case today.
But if we assume that the American missile shield was installed not against imaginary missiles from Iran, but because of Russia, then it must be noted that Washington's costly attempt to neutralize Russia's strategic arsenal has failed. At the same time, Russia’s ability to intercept even attacking missiles is very high,” the magazine points out.
At the same time, the author of the article writes that the real danger for the West and the United States is not Russia’s ability to deliver a crushing nuclear strike, but the opportunities that arise below the level of use of nuclear weapons.
It is also noted that in the matter of large-scale introduction of long-range hypersonic weapons, “Russia currently seems to be ahead of everyone.”
“One can doubt when nuclear-powered missiles will be ready for operation and whether there will be any at all. But the Kinzhal missile and the Avangard complex are themselves extremely dangerous weapons. The range of the Kinzhal complex is two thousand kilometers, and it leaves virtually no Anti-Access, Area-Denial (A2/AD) zones for the United States, that is, territories protected from Russian weapons. Or, in other words, the United States must very quickly develop countermeasures to protect its expensive nuclear weapons carriers. Because currently they are in full view.
Last year also saw significant changes in the positions of Russian arms exporters. Unlike the recent past, the Kremlin is now ready to export such modern weapons as the S-400 air defense system for much-needed currency. If Putin offers his hypersonic weapons for sale around the world, then their proliferation will significantly reduce the US ability to use its overwhelming military power in all corners of the planet,” Stern concludes.
Moscow Can Now Confront the US in Any Conflict – Stern