#8
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
May 14, 2003
MOSCOW REHEARSES A NUCLEAR STRIKE ON THE U.S.
New plan for military exercises focuse on America as the enemy
Author: Igor Korotchenko
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]

RIGHT AFTER NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL GEORGE ROBERTSON LEAVES MOSCOW, RUSSIA WILL LAUNCH SOME EXTENSIVE MILITARY EXERCISES, IN WHICH RUSSIAN STRATEGIC BOMBERS AND NUCLEAR SUBMARINES WILL DELIVER HYPOTHETICAL NUCLEAR STRIKES ON THE US AND BRITAIN.

To all appearances, Russian military leaders have learnt a lesson from the Iraq war, and intend to show the US and its allies their determination to repel any potential threat coming from the West. Right after NATO Secretary-General George Robertson leaves Moscow, Russia will launch some extensive military exercises, in which Russian strategic bombers and nuclear submarines will deliver hypothetical nuclear strikes on the US and Britain, while locating and destroying aircraft-carrier groups of the US Navy.

It is believed that Colonel-General Vladimir Mikhailov, Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, will submit the plan for the exercises to Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on May 14.

However, some amendments may be made to this document - because Sergei Ivanov recently discussed this issue with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. It should be noted that the thesis about combating international terrorism, which the defense minister and the chief of the General Staff recently used in all official speeches, has been discarded as unwanted. The plan of the exercises is based on one of the alternatives for the escalation of a regional conflict into a war. According to certain reports, one aspect of the exercises will be linked with destroying the US satellite group in order to neutralize the NAVSTAR global navigation system, the Keyhole optoelectronic intelligence satellites, and the Lacross radio-locating intelligence satellites. Under actual conditions of a war this would "blind" the Pentagon and does not let the US use high-precision weapons against Russian military groups.

Four Tu-160 and nine Tu-95MS strategic bombers, 12 Tu-22M3 long- range bombers, and four Il-78 flying tankers will be involved in the maneuvers on May 17-18. Major-General Igor Khvorov, commander of the 37th air army of the High Commander-in-Chief, said that the official objective of the exercise is to polish cooperation between the long- range aviation, the Navy, and other branches of the army in the western, eastern, northern, and southern regions of the Russian Federation, and over the world's oceans. This emphasizes a global scale of the impending maneuvers.

It should be noted that long-range aviation units, which are the foundation of the airborne strategic nuclear forces, will be the first to implement a contract system of recruitment. To all appearances, the 22nd heavy bomber division stationed at the Engels airbase will play the key role in the exercises.

Submarines of the Northern and Pacific fleets will launch ballistic missiles. Nuclear strategic and multi-purpose submarines, surface warships of different types, coastal missile and anti-aircraft units, and the missile-carrying, pursuit, and anti-submarine aviation will be involved in the exercise.

Russian warships sent to the Arabian Sea to take part in an exercise with the Indian Navy will support strategic units. They will find and destroy US Los Angeles class submarines and deliver missile strikes at enemy warships.

(Translated by Alexander Dubovoi)

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