You have to look twice to find the "9M729". The marking is in black on the olive rocket container. Russian military have built it together with a launcher and the predecessor model in the large hall in the park Patriot. Under the roof hangs a banner with the photo of President Vladimir Putin. His image is omnipresent in the military Disneyland with tanks, missiles and a replica Reichstag (read more here).
In Kubinka, an hour's drive southwest of Moscow, Russia wants to prove to the world that it does not break the INF Treaty. The agreement, signed in 1987 by the Soviet Union and the US, bans land-based ballistic missiles and cruise missiles with a range of more than 500 kilometers. That's why Moscow presented for the first time publicly on Wednesday information on the 9M729 (NATO designation SS-C-8).
It is the cruise missile that the US and NATO say violates the INF agreement by flying well beyond 500 kilometers. In December 2018, after considerable hesitation, the US government had provided intelligence information on the weapon system within NATO, which apparently also convinced even previously doubting allies of the breach of the INF Treaty. Washington has given Moscow an ultimatum by 2 February to show that it is in compliance with the treaty. Otherwise, the US will exit the agreement.
The Kubinka meeting, which includes military attachés and journalists, is part of a Moscow campaign. However, there are just a dozen diplomatic representatives who have left attachés from the US, Britain, France and Germany. Ask? Undesirable.
The mystery of the range
General Mikhail Matveyevsky, chief of the Russian rocket troops, announces data for the 9M729. He has projections projected onto the wall of the conference room. The essence of the presentation can be summarized as follows: The modernized cruise missile with more explosive power has a range of 480 kilometers, which is ten kilometers less than the previous model. Thus, the new weapon is 20 kilometers below the threshold, from which it would violate the INF contract.
Whether that really is the case, there are doubts. Experts can use the dimensions and internal layout of a missile - such as the size of the tank and the warhead - to close its range. However, Russia does not present the cruise missile itself at this event, but only the container from which the missile is launched.
AP
Presentation at Moscow
The 9M729 is said to have a diameter of 51.4 centimeters, according to the new Russian data. Moscow does not give details of the length, but gives the length of the container at almost eight meters. "The missile itself will therefore be at least six, if not six and a half meters long," says Munich rocket expert Markus Schiller. That would also match with previously known photos of the 9M729.
These dimensions would be nearly identical to those of the US "Tomahawk" cruise missile, which has a range of up to 2,500 kilometers - five times what the Russians claim for the 9M729. Although the range would drop drastically if the cruise missile possessed a relatively large, heavy warhead and a smaller tank.
Whether this is the case, according to Schiller but can not understand. The SPIEGEL has presented him the slides and photos from Kubinka, including images of the inner division of the 9M729 and its predecessor 9M728. "The size ratios do not match there," says Schiller. "These are just rough schemes." His verdict on the presentation: "The Russians deceive openness, but continue to wall."
The presented container looks remarkably slim for a missile, which should have a diameter of more than half a meter. "He does not seem to fit in this container," says Schiller. On previously available photos, the container of the 9M729 is much thicker in relation to the length. What this discrepancy could mean is unclear.
More at SPIEGEL +
In the hall of the Park Patriot such details do not matter, this is about the pictures. The Russians want to show who bears the moral responsibility if the INF Treaty fails. We provide transparency here, according to the message. However, the appointment comes late. It took years before they even acknowledged the existence of the 9M729 of the rocket maker Novator in Yekaterinburg on the Urals, part of the state-owned armaments company Almas-Antei.
In Russia, one is already convinced that the US wants to get out of the contract. For China and North Korea have long had cruise missiles that fall under the INF agreement, but just completed only Russia and the United States.
In addition, Moscow also accused Washington again on Wednesday, with its missile defense systems violated the INF agreement. The US is said to be launching cruise missiles on Russian soil with its Mk-41 launchers, which are already stationed in Romania and will also be deployed in Poland. Experts think that theoretically possible. The United States deny this, once again is more statement against statement.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stands in the hall in the park Patriot, a bit off. Satisfied, he sees dozens of cameramen, including international teams from China and the US, filming the cruise missile container. He has just announced in dashing tone on the side of the General, now the US was on the train.