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Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
Russian forces conduct massive war-games exercise
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Russian military forces are engaged in a large-scale exercise
involving strategic and conventional military forces that will
include three long-range missile flight tests in the next several
days, according to defense and intelligence officials. Top Stories
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The exercises, involving the "triad" of strategic land, sea and
air forces, began Monday and involved Russian strategic bomber
intrusions into Japanese airspace and flights near Norwegian
airspace. The flights prompted a protest from Tokyo.
Such exercises in the recent past have involved simulated
conflicts with the United States and other NATO members, and the
officials said they expect that scenario for the weeklong war games.
"They are running a big strategic forces exercise," said one
official. "It's larger than we've seen for a long time."
The official said, however, that the Russians have taken steps
to structure the exercise in ways to avoid rankling some Western
governments. He did not elaborate.
An intelligence official said the Russians notified the U.S.
government of the missile flight tests — involving a road-mobile ICBM
and two submarine-launched ballistic missiles —through a new U.S.-
Russian missile warning center.
The warning center was set up to avoid the dangerous incident
several years ago when Russian nuclear forces went on alert in
response to a Norwegian scientific rocket that was mistaken by the
Red Army for a U.S. submarine-launched missile.
The highlight of the exercise will be the flight test of the SS-
25, Moscow's first road-mobile intercontinental missile. The SS-25
has a range of up to 8,500 miles.
From Russian missile submarines, an SSN-18 missile and an SSN-23
missile will be test-launched during the exercises, said the
officials. The triple-warhead SSN-18 and quadruple-warhead SSN-23
missiles have ranges of up to 5,000 miles.
Russian strategic bombers involved in the maneuvers include Bear
H and Tu-22 Backfire and Tu-160 Blackjack — long-range nuclear-
capable bombers operating in both the eastern and western parts of
Russia.
The bombers have been flying out of bases in Anadyr, in the
Russian Far East; Tiksi on the Laptev Sea near the Arctic Circle; and
Engels Air Base west of Moscow, the officials said.
Russian Il-78 tanker aircraft also have been sent to the edges
of the vast Russian Federation and have been spotted in aerial
refueling of Russian warplanes.
In addition to strategic forces, Russian conventional forces are
involved, according to intelligence officials. Troops of the Russian
Border Guards and Federal Security Service have been mobilized.
Russia's military press reported Monday that motorized rifle and
airborne divisions are participating, along with air force and air
defense troops.
"The war games . . . aim at checking notification systems,
combat and mobilization readiness of several military districts, as
well as readiness of armed services," Russia's military news agency
stated.
A parachute drop of an airborne division is expected today near
the town of Ivanovo, and aerial bombing raids also will be carried
out, the news agency said.
Analysts view the exercises as timed to exert political
influence on the new Bush administration and its plans for a national
missile defense, which Moscow opposes.
"These [exercises] appear to be Russia deciding to deal with the
West after the fashion of the Soviet Union in the early 1980s, namely
to bluster in order to try to prevent an American strategic overture,
in this case missile defense," R. James Woolsey, a former CIA
director and arms control negotiator, said in an interview.
"I very much hope and believe that these sorts of Russian
tactics will backfire both with Europe and with the United States."
Russia recently revised its military doctrine to call for
greater reliance on nuclear weapons, since conventional forces are
deteriorating under the severe economic problems facing the country.
Russian military forces were unable to defeat rebels in Chechnya
during several years of fighting.
The exercises are being directed by Russian Defense Minister
Igor Sergeyev and the chief of the general staff, Gen. Anatoly
Kvashnin. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to take part
in the exercises tomorrow.
U.S. intelligence officials said all three officials utilized
the Russian nuclear command and control briefcase, known as a cheget,
as part of the exercises.
Japan's Foreign Ministry protested what it said were violations
of Japanese airspace by several Russian aircraft, including bombers
that were met with Japanese interceptor aircraft.
Russia denied airspace incursions. "We again analyzed all the
actions of our pilots, and there were no violations of Japan's
airspace," Mr. Sergeyev was quoted as saying by the military news
agency.
Russian bombers also flew near Norway's coast but did not
intrude on the Scandinavian nation's airspace, according to Col. John
Espen Lien of the Norwegian Supreme Defense Command.
The current Russian exercises followed incidents in October and
November when Russian fighter-bombers buzzed the U.S. aircraft
carrier Kitty Hawk in the Sea of Japan in a sign of hostility.
The maneuvers also come on the eve of the first talks next week
between Secretary of State Colin Powell and Russian Foreign Minister
Igor Ivanov in Cairo, and a visit to Moscow by NATO Secretary-General
George Robertson.
The exercises are expected to conclude tomorrow.
So far, there have been no Russian bomber flights near U.S. or
Canadian territory, although military officials said they are closely
monitoring the exercises and are prepared to scramble U.S. Air Force
interceptor jets in response.
A Pentagon spokesman said that "we are aware of the exercise"
and that it was similar to U.S. maneuvers carried out "to maintain
readiness."
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