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19 December 2008

Russia Wants to Trade Arms Deals Again

You have to wonder if the Russian offer to cut their strategic arms in return for the US lowering the European missile defense shield is motivated by true desires for world peace, or the memories of 1980s bankruptcy brought on by trying to keep up with Reagan-era defense spending:
A senior Russian general said Friday the military will cut some weapons programs if the United States drops its missile defense plans, a news agency reported.
The Interfax news agency quoted Col.-Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov as saying that the Russian armed forces wouldn't need some prospective strategic weapons if the new U.S. administration changes its mind about deploying missile defense sites in Europe.
'Several expensive programs will simply become unnecessary for us,' said Solovtsov, the chief of Russia's Strategic Missile Forces.
Solovtsov didn't elaborate, but he has said earlier that Russia plans to modernize its intercontinental ballistic missiles to protect them from space-based components of the U.S. missile defense system.
Other Russian officials have previously boasted about prospective new warheads capable of making sharp maneuvers to dodge missile defense systems.


By: Brant

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