"Typical trick": why the Pentagon started talking about the threat to the United States from Russian submarines and cruise missiles

The Pentagon acknowledged that the US military can hardly track Russian submarines. This was stated by Lieutenant General Glen Van Hirk, speaking in the Senate Armed Services Committee at a hearing to approve his candidacy for the post of head of the US Northern Command.

“Russia is developing its strategic potential, for example, submarines, which are now quite difficult to track and which can be equipped with cruise missiles capable of striking US territory,” said the American military leader.

Van Hirk added that in the not so distant future, as its capabilities and expeditionary potential develop, China will also follow this path.

• US Army Lieutenant General Glen Van Hurk
• AFP
• © Drew Angerer / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA

“Russia will continue to improve its cruise missiles, which poses a serious threat,” the American general added.

Commenting on the statement of Glen Van Hurk, an expert at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies Sergey Ermakov noted that it is quite typical for military leaders to declare a high military threat.

“Theses about the Russian threat are needed to justify the US build-up of its naval forces. Such statements are a typical technique aimed at increasing the military budget. As for strategic threats, the United States is unhappy with the fact that it has lost its military superiority and can no longer dictate its agenda to everyone. In fact, Washington would like to deny other countries defense self-sufficiency, "Ermakov emphasized in an interview with RT.

Large "Caliber"

Note that earlier, Marshall Billingsley, the US President's special envoy for arms control, addressed Moscow with a call to stop the development of nuclear-powered cruise missiles.

Speaking to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the official called the missiles "flying Chernobyls" and said such weapons should not exist.

According to the American side, no logic justifies the "Doomsday system" - as US officials called nuclear-powered missiles.

• Tests of the Burevestnik cruise missile
• RIA News
• © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Commenting on these accusations, the chairman of the Federation Council commission on information policy and interaction with the media, Alexei Pushkov, reminded the American side that it was she who was the first to withdraw from the INF Treaty, and is, in fact, in the process of withdrawing from START III.

“This is the approach of“ Doomsday, ”the Russian senator stressed.

Washington outraged over the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile announced on March 1, 2018 by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his address to the Federal Assembly. The name "Petrel" was chosen for the rocket later, following a popular vote.

As reported by the Russian Ministry of Defense, the development of an unlimited-range cruise missile was launched back in 2001, after the United States left the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems. The creation of the missile should be a response to the creation of a global missile defense system by the United States.

Russia is actively developing its own arsenal of cruise missiles. So, in 2015, the first combat use of Kalibr missiles took place. It was with these missiles that a volley was fired at terrorist groups operating in Syria from the Russian Navy ships Dagestan, Grad Sviyazhsk, Veliky Ustyug and Uglich.

The Kalibr family of cruise missiles was developed by the Novator design bureau on the basis of the S-10 Granat complex. The new missiles were first demonstrated in 1993.

Today "Calibers" have a number of modifications and can be launched from both air and sea carriers, including underwater ones. "Calibers" can be used by nuclear submarines of project 885 "Ash", 955 "Borey", as well as diesel-electric submarines of project 636.3 "Varshavyanka" and project 677 "Lada".

Underwater armada

Work is also being actively pursued to improve and expand the Russian submarine military fleet. On July 26, the Ministry of Defense reported that work on the creation of an underwater complex equipped with Poseidon unmanned aerial vehicles is being successfully completed. As noted in the defense department, the Navy has been testing the nuclear submarine carrier of the Poseidon vehicles since March 2019.

We will remind, for the first time official information on the development of a nuclear unmanned underwater vehicle was presented in November 2015, during a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with the leadership of the military-industrial complex. On March 1, 2018, in a message to the Federal Assembly, the head of state announced the completion of the development of a unique oceanic system, which was named Poseidon based on the results of Internet voting.

• Project strategic submarine cruiser (SSBN) "Borey-A" (955A) "Prince Vladimir".
• RIA News
• © Oleg Kuleshov

The device is capable of moving at a depth of several hundred meters at a speed exceeding the speed of submarines and surface ships. At the same time, it moves quietly and has high maneuverability. According to Vladimir Putin, Poseidon is practically invulnerable to the enemy.

It should also be noted that the Russian Navy is regularly replenished with the latest submarines. So, on July 20, 2020, the Sevmash enterprise laid down two submarines, Voronezh and Vladivostok, capable of carrying hypersonic weapons.

In mid-June, the newest strategic submarine cruiser of the project (RPKSN) 955A ("Borey-A") "Prince Vladimir" was accepted into the Navy. This was reported by the Ministry of Defense.

By the end of this year, it is planned to transfer to the Navy one more serial missile carrier of project 955A (Borey-A) "Prince Oleg". The submarine was launched from the stocks of the Sevmash plant in July 2020. Project 955A (Borey-A) nuclear submarines belong to the fourth generation of submarines and are capable of carrying 16 Bulava ICBMs on board. Nuclear-powered ships of this class are included in the nuclear triad of the RF Armed Forces. In addition to "Prince Vladimir" and "Prince Oleg", the project will build nuclear submarines "Generalissimo Suvorov", "Emperor Alexander III" and "Prince Pozharsky". All of them have already been laid down at Sevmash.

In addition, in December 2019, the first serial nuclear submarine of project 885M Yasen-M, Novosibirsk, was launched.

Strategic stability component

The invisibility of submarines, which was mentioned by the US Armed Forces Lieutenant General Glen Van Hurk, is one of the immanent characteristics of the submarine fleet, experts say.

“Range, autonomy, stealth and quietness are the key characteristics of submarines, this is not a discovery. And the fact that the Pentagon especially notes the high level of these qualities in the Russian submarine fleet, speaks of the success of our engineers, ”said Sergei Ermakov.

• Northern Machine-Building Enterprise in Severodvinsk
• RIA News
• © Pavel Kononov

At the same time, the US territory is really vulnerable to military submarines.

“It really is. And this vulnerability is a key component of strategic stability. As long as the territory of the country is vulnerable, no normal politician will unleash a war. Because of this vulnerability, the American general classified Russian cruise missiles as a strategic weapon, ”Yermakov added.

Military expert Mikhail Timoshenko adheres to a similar point of view.

“Even if Russia had only one nuclear submarine, the Americans would still talk about the threat. This is a political move, since the military wants to have weight and funding, ”the expert said in a comment for RT.

Now expressing dissatisfaction with the fact that Russia is developing its arsenals of sea-based cruise missiles, the American military forgets that at the end of the last century it was the United States that was the leaders in this area, analysts say. That is why many experts criticized the INF Treaty, which at one time banned medium and shorter-range ground-based missiles - such weapons at that time were possessed by the USSR. At the same time, sea and air-based missiles of similar range were not affected by the treaty.

Therefore, after signing the treaty in 1987, the USSR decommissioned twice as many missiles as the United States.

However, now the balance of power at sea has generally leveled off, experts say.

“We can say that the total potential of the Russian Navy is quite high today. It provides a balance of power, making the US feel its vulnerability, ”summed up Mikhail Tymoshenko.