Russian military ups the ante on missile defense

#1
myrobbins7

myrobbins7

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#1
Russia's top military officer has threatened to carry out a pre-emptive strike on U.S.-led NATO missile defense facilities in Eastern Europe if Washington goes ahead with its controversial plan to build a missile shield.

President Dmitry Medvedev said last year that Russia will retaliate militarily if it does not reach an agreement with the United States and NATO on the missile defense system.

Chief of General Staff Nikolai Makarov went even further Thursday. "A decision to use destructive force pre-emptively will be taken if the situation worsens," he said at an international conference attended by senior U.S. and NATO officials.

The Associated Press: Russian military ups the ante on missile defense
 
#3
#3
While I can't stand them or their ideals, they are tough as a ten cent steak. Turned back Genghis Khan, Napolean, and Hitler. Hope they're not dumb enough to start another cold war. Friction with them will hurt us both.
 
#8
#8
Their technology sucks balls, but is is rugged and lasts forever in some working condition.
 
#10
#10
Russians are stupid paranoid about missile defense. Always have been. But I don't think they would actually ever do anything. But when did we start building a missile shield? Last I check we just had a few systems but far from a shield. Russians believe it's too close to them, but I think speculation was that it was for Iran to Europe attacks.
 
#11
#11
Weezy said:
Russians are stupid paranoid about missile defense. Always have been. But I don't think they would actually ever do anything. But when did we start building a missile shield? Last I check we just had a few systems but far from a shield. Russians believe it's too close to them, but I think speculation was that it was for Iran to Europe attacks.
Click to expand...

coughs, Tom Clancys End War
 
#14
#14
Weezy said:
Russians are stupid paranoid about missile defense. Always have been. But I don't think they would actually ever do anything. But when did we start building a missile shield? Last I check we just had a few systems but far from a shield. Russians believe it's too close to them, but I think speculation was that it was for Iran to Europe attacks.
Click to expand...

The shield is definitely not intended to stop attacks from Iran. Russia isn't dumb. It is to protect Eastern Europe from attacks/counter attacks from Russia. They called the US out on it before and pointed out other locations that would actually work better if the true intentions were to stop missiles from Iran, but the US wouldn't budge.
 
#15
#15
milohimself said:
What I'm talkin 'bout.

I played as the Rooskis all the damn time on Rise of Nations. Unbeatable.
Click to expand...

Don't think they're unbeatable. Technology is the great equalizer. In a strictly ground war, fought in Russia, they can't be beat, but nowadays, it's all about air power. That's assuming both sides refrain from nukes. Of course if war did break out, there's a good chance China joins them (as well as Iran and North Korea), which means WWIII. That probably means nukes. Then the world ends on December 21st and the Mayans are proven correct. Damn Mayans.
 
#17
#17
Weezy said:
Russians are stupid paranoid about missile defense. Always have been. But I don't think they would actually ever do anything. But when did we start building a missile shield? Last I check we just had a few systems but far from a shield. Russians believe it's too close to them, but I think speculation was that it was for Iran to Europe attacks.
Click to expand...

I think that "shield" is just a name being used to describe it. It is still a limited number of missiles (on the order of 10?) housed at one site with the radar facility at another...at least that was the plan a few years ago.

As for the intent - I do believe that the shield is built with the intent to protect Europe (and the US) from mid-range and (long-range) attacks from Iran. It could potentially achieve that task if Iran goes bare-bones on their missile technology...which if you go to the trouble of building the nukes, you probably aren't going to do. It is also a good opportunity to get a "foot in the door" so to speak. We will get facilities on the ground and radars in place.

This system is in no way intended to protect against Russia in its current form. It isn't big enough....no where near big enough. Also, it frankly isn't good enough to defeat their missile technology with an acceptable success rate (in the world of nukes, that success rate better be VERY high..and ours, against sophisticated missiles with countermeasures is quite small). This system could be viewed as a precursor of a system that could eventually protect against Russian missiles (if we REALLY expand it and the technology improves a lot). And the location, in my opinion, is strategically placed for this purpose.

To me, the Russian objections do center on their general paranoia. However, it isn't unfounded here. First, while these systems are not being put in place to actually counter their arsenal, these missiles could catch Russian delivery vehicles. We lied about their capability of doing this (by shaving numbers down) while assuring the Russians it was for the Iranian threat (which I do think it was). That could make you a bit paranoid if you're Russia. Second, as I said above, it puts our foot in the door with regard to a missile "shield" that could eventually defend against the Russian threat, and in countries that were part of the Iron Curtain not so long ago (that's gotta sting).
 
#19
#19
TennTradition said:
I think that "shield" is just a name being used to describe it. It is still a limited number of missiles (on the order of 10?) housed at one site with the radar facility at another...at least that was the plan a few years ago.

As for the intent - I do believe that the shield is built with the intent to protect Europe (and the US) from mid-range and (long-range) attacks from Iran. It could potentially achieve that task if Iran goes bare-bones on their missile technology...which if you go to the trouble of building the nukes, you probably aren't going to do. It is also a good opportunity to get a "foot in the door" so to speak. We will get facilities on the ground and radars in place.

This system is in no way intended to protect against Russia in its current form. It isn't big enough....no where near big enough. Also, it frankly isn't good enough to defeat their missile technology with an acceptable success rate (in the world of nukes, that success rate better be VERY high..and ours, against sophisticated missiles with countermeasures is quite small). This system could be viewed as a precursor of a system that could eventually protect against Russian missiles (if we REALLY expand it and the technology improves a lot). And the location, in my opinion, is strategically placed for this purpose.

To me, the Russian objections do center on their general paranoia. However, it isn't unfounded here. First, while these systems are not being put in place to actually counter their arsenal, these missiles could catch Russian delivery vehicles. We lied about their capability of doing this (by shaving numbers down) while assuring the Russians it was for the Iranian threat (which I do think it was). That could make you a bit paranoid if you're Russia. Second, as I said above, it puts our foot in the door with regard to a missile "shield" that could eventually defend against the Russian threat, and in countries that were part of the Iron Curtain not so long ago (that's gotta sting).
Click to expand...

It's kind of like the Cuban missile crisis in reverse. "We're not going to let you get that close to us without a fight." I can certainly see the Russian perspective.
 
#22
#22
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