Russian nuclear shield in readiness. Putin tests it

[Casper]

The first missile was launched was from the Plesetsk space center in the Arkhangelsk Region towards the Kura training ground in Kamchatka. It was an RS-12M Topol (NATO reporting name SS-25 Sickle), a strategic solid-propellant single-warhead missile.

The second, R-29P Sineva missile (SS-N-18 Stingray), - from the submerged strategic missile cruiser, registration number K-433 (Project 667BDR, Kalmar Class – NATO reporting name Delta III).

Also two strategic bombers, Tu-160 and Tu-95MS, taking off from the Engels airfield outside Saratov, made long-range flights to Vorkuta in the Arctic and, after 15 hours of flying over featureless terrain, fired four missiles at their designated targets on the Pemboi range. By all appearances, these were Kh-555 missiles.

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[Franticfrank]

Nuclear shield? These were ICBMs, right? It was not aimed at intercepting incoming missiles? Still, good to see TU95s and TU160 in the air in numbers.

 

[g5000]

Nuclear shield? These were ICBMs, right? It was not aimed at intercepting incoming missiles? Still, good to see TU95s and TU160 in the air in numbers.

I don't think what was translated to English as "nuclear missile shield" was intended to mean some kind of Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) defense.

It sounds more like this was a test of their "nuclear deterrent", harkening back to the days of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD).

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[waltky]

Granny says he's a madman...

Putin: Russia To Deploy Weapons To Counter U.S. Missile Shield
November 10, 2015 - President Vladimir Putin says Russia will counter NATO's missile-defense program by deploying new offensive weapons that can penetrate the shield.

Putin told Russian defense officials on November 10 that the United States is trying to "neutralize" Moscow's strategic nuclear deterrent by developing defenses against Russia's ballistic missiles. He said Washington is attempting to gain a "decisive military superiority" over Russia but that Moscow will developing "strike systems capable of piercing any missile defenses."

Putin said companies in the "military-industrial complex" in the last three years "have created and successfully tested a number of prospective weapons systems that are capable of performing combat missions in a layered missile-defense system." The statement comes amid a major strain in relations between Washington and Moscow that have plunged to their lowest point since the Cold War because of differences over the Ukraine crisis.

Russia has complained for several years about NATO's U.S.-led missile shield, which Washington has said is defense against an attack from a rogue state like Iran or North Korea. But Putin said that "regrettably, our concerns and cooperation proposals haven't been taken into account."

Putin: Russia To Deploy Missiles To Pierce U.S. Shields