Posted on 06/07/2012 9:11:57 PM PDT by bd476
Russia Test Fires new ICBM
Friday, 08 June 2012
Russian military announced Thursday they have successfully test-fired a new version of the Topol-M series codenamed RS-12M.
The rocket, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), was fired from a military base in southeast Russia, Interfax news agency quoted military sources as saying. The missile hit its target in Kazakhstan republic in central Asia precisely.
The new generation of the Topol-M family aims to counter the US-developed missile shield system being deployed in Western countries.
It will be the mainstay of the Russian Strategic Missile Troops, according to the report.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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What are those, Lightswords?
Our bomber force was taken off alert in '93 (or thereabouts)
After that if the Russians attack, Obama will send his flying unicorns to sh*t rainbow Skittles on them. In the meantime his acolytes will bombard them with peaceful thoughts to soften them up.
It's time for a data update. All that is left of the mighty nuclear triad is a reduced SLBM force, 3 flights of ancient, nerfed Minuteman IIIs (single warheads), tactical airdropped munitions and Tomahawk missiles.
Peacekeeper ICBM = gone.
Strategic airdropped munitions = nearly gone. The last delivery system for the retained SMs is the no-longer-invincible B2, of which we have only 21 units.
ALCM = retiring now, nuclear ones may already be gone.
SRAM = gone.
ALCM and SRAM replacements = cancelled.
Nuclear artillery, etc. = gone. Army has no nukes.
Until the flying unicorns are available, we are vulnerable!!!
Me, I think they are secretly weaponizing Bigfoot. I feel safe.
“All that is left of the mighty nuclear triad is a reduced SLBM force”
The SLBM force is more than enough to provide our deterrence.
1,288 warheads deployed on 14 Ohio class SSBNs.
Each W76 warhead is 7 times the yield of Little Boy dropped on Hiroshima. Each W88 is 30 times the yield.
Ohio class subs are untra-quiet and have great communication via ULF. At least 8 are on patrol at any given time.
The Trident D5 has a range of 12,000 kilometers with an accuracy of 90 meters CEP. It has had 142 consecutive successful test launches since 1989.
Thanks for the info, jboot.
The purpose of the Triad was to ensure that the USA was not reliant on a single system. Our greatly reduced arsenal is now a two-legged stool, and only one of the legs of the stool is a modern system. Minuteman III is already a relic and will be utterly obsolete long before it reaches EOL in 2030. All potential follow-on programs have been cancelled.
I hate to be a downer, but in my opinion our deterrant capability is rapidly aging, single-threaded to a fault and out-of-sync with current threats.
I wish we had magic zap rays mounted on clouds, but we don’t.
I stand reminded and corrected.
“The purpose of the Triad was to ensure that the USA was not reliant on a single system.”
The problem with the ICBM force and bomber force is vulnerability. Missile silos cannot be moved and neither can bomber bases.
The Russians have 50% of their nuclear arsenal deployed on 90 silo-based ICBMs at 4 missile bases(Dombarovsky, Uzhur, Kozelsk and Tatishchevo).
What happens if 2 Ohio class SSBNs in the Barents Sea launch a volley of 48 Trident D5 SLBMs with 192 warheads on a depressed trajectory at the 4 missile bases. The flight time is 6-8 minutes. 2 warheads targeted for each silo.
All 90 of the silos are turned into 300 foot deep craters and the Russians lose half of their nuclear arsenal.
“Minuteman III is already a relic and will be utterly obsolete long before it reaches EOL in 2030.”
Minuteman III has been upgraded so many times that it is basically a new missile.
•Rapid Execution and Combat Targeting (REACT) Service Life Extension Program: The first REACT system was installed in the Minuteman III in the 1990s. REACT reduces the time required to re-target the missiles. In 2006 the Air Force began modernizing REACT to extend its service life. The Air Force completed the effort in 2006.
•Safety Enhanced Reentry System Vehicle (SERV): SERV modifies the reentry vehicles for the W-87’s that were removed from the Peacekeeper missiles and redeployed on the Minuteman III. The Air Force completed purchasing the reentry vehicles in FY2009. At that point they stopped requesting funding for the program, although installation is not expected to be completed until 2012.
•Propulsion Replacement Program (PRP): The PRP replaces the propellant in the Minuteman III. Although the program will not be completed until 2013, the Air Force indicated that the last year of funding for the PRP was FY2009.
•Guidance Replacement Program (GRP): The GRP extends and improves the reliability of the Minuteman III guidance sets. In FY 2012 the Air Force requested $.06 million to complete the installation of the new guidance sets.
•Propulsion System Rocket Engine Program (PSRE): PSRE is designed to replace the post-boost propulsion system components on the Minuteman III missiles. The Air Force completed procurement of the new components in FY 2011, and requested $26.1 million in FY 2012 to continue work installing the units.
•Solid Rocket Motor Warm Line Program: In FY 2009 Congress approved an Air Force program to continue producing the solid rocket motors for the Minuteman III in order to preserve the manufacturing capabilities. In FY 2012 the Air Force requested $34 million to work on the solid rocket motors.
“Moreover, it is tied to 14 aging SSBNs, each of which houses a significant percentage of our entire nuclear arsenal and represents a glaring single point of failure.”
The service life of the Ohio class boats has been extended from 30 years to 42-45 years. The first of the 14, USS Henry M. Jackson(SSBN-730) will be decommissioned in 2029. The Navy has already started a program called SSBN(X) to study the prospective replacement.
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