Experts called the reason why Washington refused to test Minuteman III missiles
The United States was supposed to test-launch the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), but postponed it to show that they were not increasing the readiness of their nuclear forces. "Newspaper.Ru" was looking into why the United States took such a step and whether it could be called friendly towards Russia.
"Secretary of Defense [U.S. Lloyd Austin] has ordered the postponement of the test launch of our Minuteman III missile," said U.S. Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby.
He stressed that the States are doing this to demonstrate that Washington has no intention of participating in any actions that may be misunderstood or interpreted. Kirby noted that "a nuclear war cannot be won and it should not be started."
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, ordered the strategic deterrence forces to be put on special combat duty.
"Senior officials of the leading NATO countries also allow aggressive statements against our country, therefore I order the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff to transfer the deterrence forces of the Russian army to a special combat duty regime," Putin said. He stressed that the West is taking illegitimate sanctions against Moscow.
"Strategic deterrence forces are the basis of the combat power of the Russian Armed Forces. They are designed to deter aggression against Russia and its allies, defeat the aggressor, including in a war with the use of nuclear weapons. Strategic deterrence forces include strategic offensive forces (SNA) and strategic defensive forces (SOS)," says the Reference Book on Terminology in the Defense Sphere (STOS), published on the website of the Ministry of Defense.
"Additional submarines went on combat patrol at sea, mobile ground missiles went on patrol. This was obviously done so that the West could see it from intelligence satellites," he told the newspaper.Ru" Head of the IMEMO Center for International Security, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexey Arbatov.
The expert claims that "it is quite likely" that the refusal of new tests of the Minuteman III missile may be connected precisely with the circumstance of declaring a special combat duty regime for strategic deterrence forces.
He notes that the Minuteman III has been in service with the US Army since the 1970s. This is the world's first solid-fuel and one of the most massive intercontinental ballistic missiles in history. Now this missile is the only ground-based ICBM of the US Air Force. Its maximum range is 13,000 km, the maximum number of warheads is three.
"The United States is constantly testing Minuteman III, regularly updating them, in part, on details - on fuel, individual units, guidance systems, warheads. But this rocket is very old and it is supposed to be replaced with new missiles in the near future. Such a service life is excessive even for the most well-made rocket," Arbatov said.
In his opinion, the postponed missile tests are not goodwill towards Russia, there is no such mood now, but this is done in order "not to increase military tensions in the world even more."
"The United States understands that if both sides begin to gradually and synchronously increase the combat readiness levels of their strategic forces, then it will not be far to reach an exchange of nuclear strikes. No one wants this - neither Russia, nor the United States, nor any other country in the world," Arbatov believes.
Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of the magazine "Russia in Global Politics", director of Scientific work of the Valdai International Discussion Club, agrees with Arbatov about the gesture of goodwill of the United States to Russia in the canceled tests of their missile, in the current situation it is impossible to speak.
"By bringing Russian strategic forces into a special regime, Putin recalled that in the event of an unfavorable development of events, there is a level of nuclear escalation. However, the exchange of nuclear strikes is still far away, this is an exclusively symbolic measure.
Lukyanov said.
The expert noted that so far there have been no manifestations of irrational decisions in the nuclear sphere. "Apparently, everyone still understands what the final phase of the Russian-American confrontation is, they understand and are not going to bring it to this," Lukyanov summed up.
Irina Alshayeva
