© Grigoriy Sisoev / SputnRussian President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly at the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall
Despite its name, the audience of the address is not limited to Russian legislators. Members of the cabinet, senior civil servants and important public figures are also invited. There were so many people invited this year that the event was moved from its traditional venue at the Georgievsky reception hall in the Grand Palace of the Kremlin to the larger venue at Moscow's Manege.
Taking advantage of the new venue's better multimedia capabilities, Putin announced that Russia has developed a number of advanced weapons systems, including a nuclear-powered cruise missile which render all US capabilities aimed at undermining the Russian nuclear deterrent - including its anti-missile systems - obsolete.
Having achieved this milestone, Putin said, Washington should stop trying to diminish Russia's security and begin treating Moscow as an equal partner, and forget trying to be the dominant military hyperpower it seeks to be.
Saying that "times now favor those who are prepared to change," and that, "nations need to either ride the wave of technological advancement or be drowned by it," Putin highlighted Russia's record of cooperation with China and India. Should the US and Europe also seek equal partnership with Russia, he said, Moscow would be responsive.
Putin expressed his wish that the technological developments behind these new weapons eventually lead to the creation of spin-off technologies and industries for civilian use. Underscoring that these weapons demonstrate Russia's mastery of science and engineering, Putin emphasized that they are "aimed at a single goal - a breakthrough in Russia's development."
Footage during Putin's speech demonstrated the global reach of Russian nuclear-powered cruise missiles
The Russian president accused the US of arrogance in its presumption that Russia would not be able to recover anytime soon after the collapse of the USSR, and that its interests can simply be ignored. One particular move - the US withdrawal (under George W Bush) from the Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) in 2002 - resulted in Russia being increasingly surrounded by American military assets which, Putin explained, gradually undermined his country's nuclear deterrence capability.
"In the end, if we had done nothing, this would have rendered the Russian nuclear potential worthless," Putin said. "They could have simply intercepted all of it." Without a nuclear deterrent, he reminded his audience, Russia would have been exposed to US military pressure and would not be able to pursue its sovereign interests. That is precisely why US military has bases around the world; to prevent sovereign nations from pursuing their legitimate interests, especially when they conflict with American interests.
It appears that the main reason for Putin today giving the US a smack down like it has never before received was the 'Nuclear Posture Review' the US Deep State recently forced Trump to sign off on. As Putin explained in today's speech:
"We are greatly concerned by some parts of the new Nuclear Posture, which reduces the benchmark for the use of nuclear weapons. Whatever soothing words one may try to use behind closed doors, we can read what was written. And it says that these weapons can be used in response to a conventional attack or even a cyber-threat.
Our nuclear doctrine says Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons only in response to a nuclear attack or an attack with other weapons of mass destruction against her or her allies, or a conventional attack against us that threatens the very existence of the state.
It is my duty to state this: any use of nuclear weapons against Russia or its allies, be it small-scale, medium-scale or any other scale, will be treated as a nuclear attack on our country. The response will be instant and with all the relevant consequences."
Hint, hint: CGI footage from one of the videos appeared to show Russian rockets targeting Florida, with Tampa Bay clearly visible
It has probably de facto been the case for some time now, but from today, officially, Russia has now restored strategic nuclear deterrence against the US. What this means, from a military point of view, is that the US no longer has anything that can threaten Russia. Cold War-era 'M.A.D.' parity has been restored. If the US wants to 'take out' Russia, then it is also going to be 'taken out'.
Here are RT highlights from Putin's presentation of Russia's nuclear arsenal upgrade:
Putin presented a number of new systems, some of which are as yet unnamed, and which are all meant to counter current and future ABM systems. His speech was accompanied by a series of video clips showing those new systems, partially as footage of tests and partially as computer-generated images showing their capabilities.It's not like Putin to display his cards so openly. Perhaps he did so with one eye on the elections, but it's unlikely he needed a 'big show' to sway the Russian electorate, which already backs him. We note that this speech comes exactly 2.5 years since Russia intervened in Syria and began the process of not only defeating ISIS but also potentially neutering US meddling in the Middle East.
One system is the new Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) called Sarmat, or RS-28. It's already well-known, but Putin stressed that its increased range allows the missile to reach US territory from Russia via a South Pole route. The US has dozens of interceptor missiles deployed in Alaska on the presumption that Russia's ICBMs would approach from that direction, which would not be the case with Sarmat.
Putin then went on to weapons systems that were not previously known to the public. One is a yet-to-be-named cruise missile with an almost unlimited range.
This is achieved thanks to a highly-efficient on-board miniaturized nuclear reactor, which powers the flight. Such a missile can fly low enough to avoid early detection, can change course to avoid enemy anti-missile assets along its path, and can maneuver to pierce the anti-missile systems protecting its target.According to Putin, Russia successfully tested a nuclear-propelled cruise missile at the end of 2017. It is now developing a new class of strategic weapons, he added.The Father of All Bombs: One Sarmat missile can apparently wipe out an area the size of France or Texas
The idea of a nuclear-powered projectile is hardly new. The US tried to develop one as part of Project Pluto in the early 1960s, but abandoned it since strategic missiles with chemical propellants proved to be a more viable alternative. Russia has reportedly made a breakthrough in this technology, becoming the first nation to bring it to maturity.
Putin also said that miniaturization of a nuclear reactor gave Russia another advanced weapons system in the form of a high-endurance underwater drone. The drone can dive "really, very deep" and travel between continents at a speed that is several times higher than that of a submarine, a modern torpedo or even a surface ship, he said.
According to the president, such drones can attack enemy aircraft carrier groups, shoreline defenses or infrastructure, and cannot be countered by any defense system in the world. Both conventional and nuclear-tipped versions can be made, he said.
In December 2017, Russia completed the trials of a nuclear reactor which gives the drones such capabilities. The reactor is "100 times smaller" than those used by nuclear-propelled submarines and generates more power, Putin said. It can also reach its peak power 200 times faster than a conventional nuclear power plant.
The video shown for this weapon system didn't include any actual test, but presumably the claimed miniaturization of a nuclear reactor, which was used for the cruise missile, can also work for a watercraft.
Putin then showcased two variants of a hypersonic weapons systems already developed by Russia. One is an air-launched vehicle that is already deployed in southern Russia for test combat duty. The projectile travels at a speed of Mach-10 and has a range of 2,000km (1,240 miles). The weapon, which is called Kinzhal ("dagger" in Russian) is available in conventional and nuclear forms, Putin said. A video shown to the audience included the moment the weapon was deployed by a fighter jet and the fire from its engine.
Another weapon that is being developed, but which was not shown being tested because its appearance is classified, is a hypersonic glider warhead deployed from space. Russia first tested one back in 2004 and has made significant progress since, the president said. The glider can fly in the atmosphere at speeds of over Mach-20 and can withstand heat of up to 2,000C (3,632F) generated by air fiction. The system is in series production and is called Avangard ("advance guard" in Russian). Putin described it as being "like a meteor guided to its target."
The last weapon system showcased by Putin during his speech was some kind of laser weapon, which he said Russia began deploying last year, although it remains unnamed and he wouldn't divulge any of its specs. A short video clip was played, showing what appears to be some kind of anti-aircraft system, but no test footage was shown.
'Speaking softly' - Russia wants negotiations, not confrontation
Putin stressed that Russia would not need all these new weapons if its legitimate concerns had not been ignored by the US and its allies. "Nobody wanted to talk with us on the core of the problem. Nobody listened to us. Now you listen!" he said.
He suggested that the US abandon its costly and inefficient hostile plans towards Russia and start negotiating a security arrangement which would take Moscow's interests into account.
"To those who for the last 15 years have been trying to fan an arms race, achieve unilateral advantage against Russia, impose sanctions, which are illegal from the standpoint of international law and are aimed at holding back the development of our country, including in the military area, I have this to say: All the things you were trying to prevent through your policies have already happened. You have failed to hold Russia back," Putin said.
"You now have to acknowledge this reality, confirm that everything I said is no bluff - which it isn't - think for some time, send into retirement the people stuck in the past and incapable of looking into the future, [and] stop rocking the boat that we all ride in and which is called planet Earth," he said.
This is certainly in part showmanship. Although there are a couple of surprises in his list of new weapons, most were already publicly known (or 'accidentally leaked' in one case). What is instructive about Putin's public presentation of these weapons is his claim that a number of them are unstoppable.
If it was any other politician saying it, we could reasonably safely assume it was at least part bluff. But this is Vladimir Putin, a man with an 18-year track record of saying what he means, and doing what he says he's going to do. Make no mistake, Russia has been forced to take these actions as a direct result of incessant overt US attacks, and covert dirty tricks, against everything and anything to do with Russia, for at least the last 5 years. In addition, the US and its allies have been flagrantly moving missile batteries ever closer to Russian territory. Currently there are 5 US cruisers and 30 destroyers near Russian borders as part of the US' "missile defense system" that rings Russia in an ever-tighter noose. What would any self-respecting nation do in response to such a provocation?
This open challenge to the reality-creators in Washington is both a threat that Russia will meet their fire with fire, and a call for any sensible ones among them to acknowledge that there has been a paradigm shift; we are in a multipolar world now, and it is time for all to recognize that fact.
They won't, of course, recognize this fact so easily. Their immediate response to Putin's speech has been to approve the 'sale' (read: donation) of $50 million worth of anti-tank Javelin MANPAD missile launchers to Ukraine in an apparent move to reignite the conflict in Russia's 'underbelly'.
Russia's response, as usual, will not be direct, obvious, nor retaliatory. It will be asymmetrical, unexpected, and methodical.
Reader Comments
US military empire: spending your tax dollars to recklessly play nuclear chicken with the fate of the world at stake. What psychopaths.
If the message is received and understood it would be an opportunity for the American people to restore their Constitutional rights and reassert a genuine democracy such as they had before the moneymen took command of the country in about 1815 and again after Andrew Jackson. Good luck.
Syria showed that the "democracy creation" is at an end.
Russia's new toys (details of which I strongly expect to see "leaked" or demonstrated in the near future) mean the military dominance as a whole is at an end. Actually, I think that dominance ended awhile ago, but it will soon be rather "in your face" for the rest of world - just like Syria was a clear message more to the rest of the world than to the US.
Of course, it's not just military toys... There are also economic factors, for example, but those seem to be turning to dust as well.
We'll see!
If that Sarmat missile can destroy an area as big as Texas or France (!!!), then think not only of the target but of the nuclear winter and radiation for the rest of the world. Scary!!
This one is not associated with grave faced statesmen - but has all the ingredients of crisis actors. There are many imaginable scenarios for the 'world' that are not framed in the drama of its conflicts. Perhaps ramping up fear to absurd and insane proportions calls its framing into question. For what is fear but fuel for out of control budgets that embody 'security'? What is the difference between sacrificing our lives and those of our young to monsters or terror gods and the modern day maskings of the same?
Of course I would like to believe that Putin has become who he is by being where he is in holding for a multi-polar world of negotiated self interest instead of the unipolar idea of sacrifice to a full spectrum dominance by usurping idea of central 'intelligence' wielded by the all too recognisably human 'private self interest'. For in this I agree. Whether he or Russia and other powers persist in such a stance when the 'Empire collapses', remains to be seen. It's easier to hold discipline when pushed to a singular need.
What is NOT a psyop?
Direct appreciation.
In UK NHS. Only the top doctors can not wear uniforms and in effect 'be themselves' at work. Putin is 'acting himself' - that is - he can relax and discern what is being said or done and respond on the fly. This also is a direct appreciation that others assign as dangerous and uncontrollable. But have they tried genuine dialogue?
It seems to me that the Script of the World runs its course however and whoever plays out their roles - for it is the idea of power struggle in the intent and attempt to make life, world and others conform to a wish or fantasy assigned 'perfection'. Do ideas conflict? - or does an investment in conflict run war as the basis for the experience of getting power over a failure to gratify such fantasy?
How much of our sense of the unworthiness of humanity arise from our imposed judgements and withdrawals and exclusions - because they did not support of comply with what we placed upon our heart's desire.
Full spectrum dominance is the wish to Lord it over. This is a fantasy that has been played out in pain and misery over and again, but rises as if anew on the promise of technological mastery - including a fundamental capture and manipulation of the mind.
How do you know your thinking is your own except by watching it in act and recognizing the qualities that it embodies?
What if inoculating the belief in bogiemen is as effective a mind-capture as actual bogiemen? Exposing this would elicit maximal censure - and thus the belief becomes self-fulfiling in act regardless the underlying truth.
Whatever the 'US' corps-gov officially has or does, black budgets, and shadow gov operates its own version for its own agenda.
Do nations exist apart from their usage for identity manipulation? But on the other hand can false identities operate a functional replacement for the Life that knows itself by living? Central control makes hollow, but to hold the centre, a balancing of interest needs to find an optimum expression. Polarised conflict destroys the centre and collapses in upon itself. It is also the soil or terrain in which to grow a different consciousness than a reactive self-justification.
Apparently, Russian soldiers are in East Ghouta supporting the Syrian army... Who now, are confident enough to shoot down Israeli F-16's. The terrorists there will be eliminated, and there is nothing America can do about it. Things have changed somewhat, and the days of the US attacking other nations with impunity are over, as is the empire.
Putin said, over and over, since his meeting with Bush in 2002, that Russia was going to build counter-measures that would neutralize US pretensions of 'full-spectrum dominance'.
And now it's done.
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Excellent article. The problem in US-Russia relations is that the US leadership lies through their teeth on every available occasion. They never tell the truth if a lie will suffice. On the other hand, Putin never bluffs, never lies, and tells it exactly as it is. And thus, the problem is that the inveterate liars in the USA don't believe Putin. They bullshit constantly, and cannot believe Putin means what he says.
Best line I ever read for years!
Also, Putin and Russia deserve a lot of respect for having achieved these technological capabilities with a military budget that has consistently only been roughly 10-15% (depending on various sources) of the US military budget. This is not to say that Russia is necessarily smarter or otherwise superior to the US in their tech capabilities, but only that their spending is much more effective in terms of bang for the buck. I would expect that this is primarily due to the fact that a very large fraction of US military spending is NOT based primarily on actual military need, but on various boondoggles intended to deliver votes to politicians and to enrich those associated with the military-industrial complex.
One thing I do find surprising in this speech is Putin's claiming that these weapons are "unstoppable". This hubristic braggadocio is not like him at all. He is certainly smart enough to recognize that history clearly demonstrates that it is inherent in technological development that ALL weapons systems can be countered in one way or another - if not today, then tomorrow or the day after when the other side makes its next tech breakthroughs. And, given how firmly entrenched the warmongers are in our system, the weapon development cycle is almost certain to continue for a long time to come.
The people running Russia and building its defenses and its economic development are Russians with a deep love of their Motherland, its Christian Saviour, and all its diverse Russian peoples, and their life's mission is to protect these things at all costs. They build weapons that work.
The people running the USA and building its defense systems (such as Sheldon Adelson, Jared Kushner, George Soros, the Rothschild banking cabal, Lloyd Blankfein, Timothy Gaithner, Janet Yellen, and the Rockefeller dynasty,) have a great love for Israel and her Master Race, an insatiable lust to enrich themselves personally at the expense of the US taxpayer, and an immense lack of any regard or concern for the survival of America or its Christian people. They build weapons that make them, personally, shitloads of money, which they can then transfer to Israeli banks beyond the sight or reach of the IRS, like Bernie Madoff did with his stolen $65 billion.
That, in my book of poker rules, is a Royal Flush for Russia and a fistful of twos and threes and fours for America. I hear they are giving away land in Russia for anyone who will settle and farm it. That sounds like a plan with a future, whereas living in the USA sounds like a plan to become a char-broiled kosherized pork chop.
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That's Russian for "Elon Musk, my arse."
MAJOR PSYOP ALERT!
The PTB know they have no other choice but to eliminate the majority of humanity before the catastrophe of a Grand Solar Minima induced ice age wreaks havoc on this planet. No provisions have been made to house, feed or care for humanity, much less deal with the volume of their waste when the ice age descends upon this planet.
Prepare for the GREAT CULLING!
..... so one nuclear war psyop so that those remain still believe our glorious leaders control the sun and the planets