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Less than a month after the death of the disarmament treaty INF, the United States announced Monday, August 19 to have tested a conventional missile of medium range. What is the objective pursued?
The missile has traveled more than 500 kilometers from San Nicolas Island (off California) before hitting its target in the Pacific. The test is successful, according to the Pentagon: " the missile tested has left its land launching ramp and accurately hit its target after more than 500 km of flight. The United States announced on Monday that it had successfully completed its first intermediate-range ground-to-air missile test since the Cold War.
Images published by the US military show the missile fired near the shore, from a Mark 41 vertical launch system. The missile tested is " a variant of the Tomahawk attack cruise missile, " said a Pentagon official.
This test was made possible by the US decision to exit the INF disarmament treaty on August 2 , on the grounds that Russia was not respecting the agreement signed at the time of the euromissile crisis in 1987. The treaty abolished the use of a whole series of missiles with a range varying from 500 to 5500 km.
A message ... to China
Are we witnessing a return to the arms race? Yes, but it concerns more China than Russia, according to General Dominique Trinquand, former head of the French military mission to the UN.
" The treaty concluded in 1987 was between Russia and the United States; the United States decided to end it on the pretext that the Russians had done so de facto. But since then there are rising powers, especially China, which are not at all bound by this treaty. President Trump wanted to break with this treaty to have his hands free because the Chinese had their hands free. We talk a lot about Russia, but it is actually towards China that this warning is addressed .
" Of course, the Chinese have a relatively small arsenal. If they felt threatened by an arms race, that the Americans would move on the Pacific - having announced that in a year, they will deploy missiles, which indirectly, of course, threaten China - at that moment, the Chinese could enter an arms race that naturally leads to instability like all arms races , "said General Dominique Trinquand.
Visiting France , Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the issue at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, making Washington responsible for the death of the treaty. " It is not Russia that unilaterally withdrew from the treaty, " he said.
" Now there is the question of renewing the START III treaty. For now, we do not see any initiative on the part of our American partners although our proposals are already on the table, "Vladimir Putin added.
The final part of the START treaty, which keeps the nuclear arsenals of both countries well below the level of the Cold War, expires in 2021. Putin assured that Moscow would not deploy medium-range nuclear weapons and more small span " as long as US systems are not deployed ."
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