On June 26, 2024, Russia showed its Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles (intercontinental ballistic missiles) crews conducting exercises. A day earlier, reports indicated that the U. S. Air Force had fired the head of the newly developed Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program, Col. Charles Clegg, for “failure to adhere to organizational procedures. ” These two developments constitute an attractive divergence in the nuclear strategy and doctrine of the two countries.
Russia has been conducting nuclear exercises, and in one video Yars crews are seen transporting and deploying the highway missile in the Irkutsk region. Meanwhile, the United States carried out two consecutive launches of its LGM-30G Minuteman III in early June.
There is some controversy over the phase-out of the Cold War-era Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile. Its replacement, the LGM-35A Sentinel, which is currently under development, is expected to cost around $130 billion and is lately under review by the Pentagon to determine if it is mandatory for national security.
Critics say the nuclear force deployed via U. S. submarines and strategic bombers is capable of deterrence and first strike, and is resilient enough to launch a retaliatory second strike. The 211% accumulated in the estimated initial charge of the Sentinel is not the cause of the intercontinental ballistic missile.
This situation, which occurs against a backdrop of constant tensions since the Russian war in Ukraine, reflects basic differences in the military thinking of the two countries in general and in their nuclear policy in particular. According to those reports, Russia has the greatest nuclear power. arsenal in the world, with some 5,889 nuclear warheads. It is followed by the United States with some 5,244 nuclear warheads.
Soldiers to counter the attack of. . . pic. twitter. com/SvFrYhH9Zc
— Zlatti71 (@Zlatti_71) June 26, 2024
On June 26, the RuMoD (Russian Ministry of Defense) showed a team of RS-24 Yars flying a distance of one hundred kilometers for the exercise, which consisted of “deploying the parts of the formula with ground position adjustments, establishing those positions,” camouflaging and organizing combat protection. The last detail to “counter sabotage and reconnaissance groups”.
While the RuMoD also mentions “deconcentration in forest dominance to strengthen Yars stealth,” Russian tactics here appear to utilize resource dispersal, such as ACE (Agile Combat Employment), implemented through the United States and NATO. . Given Russia’s penchant for diversionary maneuvers (called “Maskirovska”), these TELs (Tele-Erector Launchers) can also be used to confuse and lie to adversary reconnaissance systems, in times of nuclear tensions.
Earlier, on March 1, Russia tested the Yars, also known as Topol-MR, from the Plesetsk liberation site, and the re-entry cars reached the “assigned area of the Kura training camp on the Kamchatka peninsula. “bring 4 MIRVs (multiple independent re-entry vehicles), Russia claims it can bring ten warheads.
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Meanwhile, the U. S. conducted back-to-back tests of the Minuteman III in June and on June 6 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. During the second test, the missile flew about 6,759 km to the Ronald Reagan ballistic missile defense test site in the Marshall Islands.
A member of the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) claimed that such checks have been carried out “more than three hundred times before” and that those checks are not the result of existing global events, but one of the periodic checks conducted to determine the functions of the intercontinental ballistic missile. “This release of control is part of the regime and periodic activities designed to demonstrate that U. S. nuclear deterrence is safe, reliable, and effective in deterring 21st-century threats and reassuring our allies,” he said.
The Sentinel, developed by Northrop Grumman, has been criticized by U. S. political experts. In January, the company successfully tested the intercontinental ballistic missile’s second-stage rocket engine on a vacuum craft, simulating the high-altitude and spaceflight of a real launch.
Experts say U. S. ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) and stealth bombers are safe to keep up with. U. S. military aircraft, such as the B-2 Spirit and the upcoming B-21, have enough to strike firsthand or retaliate. This makes the U. S. arsenal capable of surviving any “first strike. “” aimed at destroying their nuclear weapons.
An article in Foreign Affairs explains that the U. S. nuclear force “already has enormous destructive potential. “The publication mentions, for example, the functions of the SSBN: “Each of the 14 U. S. Ohio-class submarines carries 20 ballistic missiles and carries up to 8 nuclear warheads, with a yield of 90 to 455 kilotons. A typical submarine carrying an average of 90 warheads can cause the required damage.
It has been estimated that the U. S. Navy. has at least 8 ballistic missile submarines at sea, not to mention U. S. Air Force bombers. U. S. military for nuclear missions. About 70 percent of U. S. nuclear weapons are used in the U. S. UU. se can be used through those stealth submarines and bombers, and the rest is destined for the Minuteman III. Another smaller component of the weapons is deployed in Europe for use through U. S. assets and allies involved in NATO’s nuclear exchange.
An adversary targeting U. S. silo-based intercontinental ballistic missiles would have to launch dozens of missiles to strike them all. Even if this attack were to succeed, it would leave bombers deployed on BTF (Bomber Task Force) missions and SSBNs armed with Trident missiles unscathed.
“Given those capabilities, under an infrastructure targeting doctrine, the United States would meet the deterrence needs of Russia and China,” the article said. “(Therefore) the expansion of nuclear force would not be necessary. “
Matt Korda, a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), was also quoted in Newsweek after verification of the Minuteman III failed last year: “Failure would not necessarily have an effect on the program as a whole or on the viability of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Force. “Korda also added that the maximum nuclear warheads are fixed on the Trident II D5 SLBMs, which are “so reliable that the U. S. deterrent is safe. “
During a discussion hosted through the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), USAF Lt. Gen. Rick Moore, deputy staff leader for plans and programs, said the Minuteman III is no longer a viable option. One way to not solve this challenge is to think that we can just make a bigger Minuteman III. There is no viable life extension program we can plan for the Minuteman III.
According to the latest reports, the Sentinel program has become even more expensive by 37%, now estimated at $130 billion. In January 2024, the program experienced a “critical” load disruption, Breaking Defense reported: “Sentinel’s pop-up pricing will certainly reduce the budget. “that already has to fund multiple modernization efforts. “
Sentinel’s payload is estimated to peak in 2027, which could compete with investment from other primary efforts such as the Air Force’s sixth-generation NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance), which the service must deploy by 2030. As of June 2023 Government The Office of Civil Liability (GAO) report noted “a lack of personnel, problems in the chain of origin and software challenges” that may drive the weapon’s operationalization from 2029 to 2030.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall also said in November 2023 that the difficulties of the Sentinel program had made him “more nervous” than the B-21 Raider program. The Sentinel is “probably the best. . . with formidable scale and complexity. “. . that the Air Force has undertaken,” Kendall said.
“The program includes not only the production of the missile itself, but also genuine real estate development, civil engineering, and the creation of communications, command, and infrastructure, such as the complexes that the missiles would use to release the weapons,” Defense News said. In fact, the missile is expected to upgrade 400 Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles into nuclear release silos in the United States, which will require new infrastructure.
Conclusion
Despite differences in nuclear positions and thoughts, Russia and the United States have strong nuclear safeguards, protocols, and oversight in place to prevent accidental launches.
In the United States, those released can be legal through the president with release codes verified through the release team (ICBM, SSBN, or bomber team) and through coordinated decision-making and data between NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), STRATCOM (Strategic Command), and NMCC (National Military Command Center).
In Russia, the 12th GUMO (or 12th Main Directorate) under the Ministry of Defense and the Strategic Missile Forces are guilty of Russia’s nuclear arsenal. Control is independent and subordinate to the General Staff. Similarly, the Strategic Missile Forces are a separate unit. branch of the army. Therefore, the final decision to use nuclear weapons would depend on the Kremlin.
For example, the Russian 9K720 Iskander-M nuclear-capable tactical battlefield founded in Belarus would be overseen through the 12th GUMO. The Kremlin says those nuclear-capable missiles are under the control of the Russian military. Warheads are also kept separate from delivery systems in warehouses.
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