Amid constant fears of the economic and military pressures from China, the increasingly militaristic demeanor of Russia has been largely overlooked. While China has been allegedly waging cyber war against the U.S. and others, Russia, manifested its aggressions by recently invading neighbor Georgia.
Infuriated at the U.S. and NATO's support of Georgia, Russia's leadership is announcing plans of a massive new nuclear armament campaign -- and it says the new campaign is the fault of the U.S.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced last week that by 2020, Russia would have a new "guaranteed nuclear deterrent system" in place. Plans for the system will be submitted by Russia's top generals in December, and are expected to include new nuclear subs and a new "system of aerospace defense". It is unclear whether this means a defensive anti-nuke system such as the U.S. missile shield, or an expanded nuclear arsenal.
In his announcement, President Medvedev pointed a finger at the U.S., saying that the U.S. was to blame for the recent military escalation. He accused the U.S.'s deployment of a defensive missile shield to Poland as an attempt to start a new arms race. He vowed, "We must guarantee nuclear deterrence under various political and military conditions by 2020."
His wide-reaching new plans also include trying to "achieve dominance in airspace". Russia's aging air force is advanced, but significantly trails the U.S.'s top fighter lines. Further, he said that "new types of armaments" from nukes to traditional payloads also might be on the agenda.
The nuclear subs and defense system will be the integral part of the campaign, he stated. He announced, "We plan to start serial production of warships, primarily nuclear-powered submarines carrying cruise missiles and multifunctional submarines. We will develop an aerospace defense system, as well."
U.S. officials expressed relative apathy for Russia's latest posturing. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that Russia's new campaign would not change the balance of power. She called the U.S. nuclear deterrent "capable" and "robust" and said, "The balance of power in terms of nuclear deterrence is not going to be affected by those measures."
Russia remains adamant that the U.S. is plotting against it. It says the placement of missile-detecting radar in the Czech Republic and a missile shield is a U.S. conspiracy to establish "a ring of steel" around Russia. Russia said it will be "forced to react".
The nation has long carried out a relatively ambitious program of weapons development. Late last year DailyTech reported that Russia had developed the "father of all bombs", the largest traditional payload in existence. More recently it was in the news for testing a new type of nuclear missile.