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Russia to Build Up Number of
Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles — Defense Minister
Mos
News
Thursday, February 8, 2007
The Russian military will sharply increase the number of new intercontinental
ballistic missiles to be deployed this year as part of an ambitious
weapons modernization plan, The Associated Press news agency quoted
Russian Defense Minister as saying on Wednesday.
Sergei Ivanov said the military would get 17 new ballistic missiles
—- a drastic rise compared with an average four deployed annually
over recent years. The purchases are part of a weapons modernization
program for 2007-2015 worth about $189 billion.
Ivanov said in a speech before lawmakers that the plan envisages
the deployment of the total of 34 new silo-based Topol-M missiles
and their control units, as well as another 50 such missiles mounted
on mobile launchers through 2015; Russia so far has deployed more
than 40 silo-based Topol-Ms.
President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have described
the Topol-M as a bulwark of Russia’s nuclear might for years
to come, and hailed its ability to penetrate any prospective missile
defenses. Putin last week dismissed Washington’s claims that
missile defense sites it hopes to establish in Poland and the Czech
Republic were intended to counter threats posed by Iran, and said
that Russia would respond by developing even more efficient weapons
systems.
A rising tide of oil revenues gave Russia a chance to increase
its defense spending following a desperate money shortage that plagued
the military throughout the 1990s.
“The economic growth and the scientific achievements allow
us to reach a qualitatively new level in military procurement,”
Ivanov said.
Russia’s defense budget which stood at $8.1 billion in 2001
nearly quadrupled to $31 billion this year, Ivanov said.
But despite a steady increase in military spending in recent years,
Putin said last week that Moscow’s military budget was still
25 times smaller than Washington’s defense spending.
Ivanov said that a share of weapons purchases in the military budget
also has been growing over years. This year, the military will spend
$5.4 billion on new weapons, buying aircraft, tanks and other armored
vehicles and four new satellites, he said.
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