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Putin's Hypersonic Weapon Appears to Be a Modified Iskander Ballistic Missile

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Re: Putin's Hypersonic Weapon Appears to Be a Modified Iskander Ballistic Missile

#11

Post by mtgx »

s3nnyy wrote: post #2

Is there seriously some new cold war going on? I read in other media how some new American weapons can fight certain Russian tanks etc, and now I read about Putin bragging about his new weapons. My prediction for the post-Sovjet area was that the US and Russia would just leave each other in peace.

> My prediction for the post-Sovjet area was that the US and Russia would just leave each other in peace.

But they didn't. Or at least the U.S. didn't. Russia has warned for years that the US shouldn't be installing rocket shields so close to its borders. So the US has continued to antagonize Russia pretty much since the cold war was "over".

Now, Russia has started to interfere in US politics, possibly as a consequence of that, and it has also started showing its "might" in Europe.

This won't end well, if the two countries continue to antagonize each other.

Re: Putin's Hypersonic Weapon Appears to Be a Modified Iskander Ballistic Missile

#12

Post by Animats »

s3nnyy wrote: post #2

Is there seriously some new cold war going on? I read in other media how some new American weapons can fight certain Russian tanks etc, and now I read about Putin bragging about his new weapons. My prediction for the post-Sovjet area was that the US and Russia would just leave each other in peace.

Is there seriously some new cold war going on?

Yes. Russia wants their empire back. They've already taken back a piece of Georgia, Crimea, and a piece of Ukraine.

Re: Putin's Hypersonic Weapon Appears to Be a Modified Iskander Ballistic Missile

#13

Post by dragonwriter »

s3nnyy wrote: post #2

Is there seriously some new cold war going on? I read in other media how some new American weapons can fight certain Russian tanks etc, and now I read about Putin bragging about his new weapons. My prediction for the post-Sovjet area was that the US and Russia would just leave each other in peace.

> Is there seriously some new cold war going on?

Yes, since the late 90s. Hillary Clinton's whole “reset button” thing in 2009 was about reversing the escalation in that cold war associated with the Russian invasion of Georgia.

> My prediction for the post-Sovjet area was that the US and Russia would just leave each other in peace.

That prediction was proven wrong less than a decade into the post-Soviet era.

Re: Putin's Hypersonic Weapon Appears to Be a Modified Iskander Ballistic Missile

#14

Post by danbruc »

How would the US react if Russia build a missile defense site in Cuba? Cuba is closer to the US border than the site in Poland to the Russian border, on the other hand Washington is further away from Cuba than Moscow from the site in Poland. Both capitals would be in range of the interceptors. I do not really know enough to judge whether Putin's statement that one could easily replace interceptors with offensive weapons is true or not but I do not really see why you could not do that.

So would the US be okay with Russian interceptors in Cuba if they promised that it is only for defensiv purposes and can not be repurposed? Putin certainly is not the nice guy but I can to some extend unterstand that he might be rather unhappy with the actions of the USA and NATO more generally since the end of the Cold War.

EDIT: This comment was meant to be as a response to [1] asking about a new Cold War.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16511248

Re: Putin's Hypersonic Weapon Appears to Be a Modified Iskander Ballistic Missile

#15

Post by s3nnyy »

danbruc wrote: post #14

How would the US react if Russia build a missile defense site in Cuba? Cuba is closer to the US border than the site in Poland to the Russian border, on the other hand Washington is further away from Cuba than Moscow from the site in Poland. Both capitals would be in range of the interceptors. I do not really know enough to judge whether Putin's statement that one could easily replace interceptors with offensive weap…

> "How would the US react if Russia build a missile defense site in Cuba?"

I think that was the trigger for the Cuba crises?

Re: Putin's Hypersonic Weapon Appears to Be a Modified Iskander Ballistic Missile

#16

Post by horsecaptin »

danbruc wrote: post #14

How would the US react if Russia build a missile defense site in Cuba? Cuba is closer to the US border than the site in Poland to the Russian border, on the other hand Washington is further away from Cuba than Moscow from the site in Poland. Both capitals would be in range of the interceptors. I do not really know enough to judge whether Putin's statement that one could easily replace interceptors with offensive weap…

Even though Cuba is further away from DC compared to Poland from Moscow, wealth is more spread out in the US. There are many wealthy and influential people that reside in Florida compared to say, the border of Russia with Poland.

Re: Putin's Hypersonic Weapon Appears to Be a Modified Iskander Ballistic Missile

#17

Post by djrogers »

s3nnyy wrote: post #15
danbruc wrote: post #14

How would the US react if Russia build a missile defense site in Cuba? Cuba is closer to the US border than the site in Poland to the Russian border, on the other hand Washington is further away from Cuba than Moscow from the site in Poland. Both capitals would be in range of the interceptors. I do not really know enough to judge whether Putin's statement that one could easily replace interceptors with offensive weap…

> "How would the US react if Russia build a missile defense site in Cuba?" I think that was the trigger for the Cuba crises?

No, you’re mixing up missile defense and missile silo/launch site.

Re: Putin's Hypersonic Weapon Appears to Be a Modified Iskander Ballistic Missile

#18

Post by danbruc »

s3nnyy wrote: post #15
danbruc wrote: post #14

How would the US react if Russia build a missile defense site in Cuba? Cuba is closer to the US border than the site in Poland to the Russian border, on the other hand Washington is further away from Cuba than Moscow from the site in Poland. Both capitals would be in range of the interceptors. I do not really know enough to judge whether Putin's statement that one could easily replace interceptors with offensive weap…

> "How would the US react if Russia build a missile defense site in Cuba?" I think that was the trigger for the Cuba crises?

That were offensive weapons right from the start but that is of course why I picked Cuba together with the similar distances. It is only a bad example because I can not easily come up with a justification for Russia needing a missile defense site there that is as good or bad as NATO justifying the need with Iran and North Korea.

Re: Putin's Hypersonic Weapon Appears to Be a Modified Iskander Ballistic Missile

#19

Post by IntronExon »

danbruc wrote: post #14

How would the US react if Russia build a missile defense site in Cuba? Cuba is closer to the US border than the site in Poland to the Russian border, on the other hand Washington is further away from Cuba than Moscow from the site in Poland. Both capitals would be in range of the interceptors. I do not really know enough to judge whether Putin's statement that one could easily replace interceptors with offensive weap…

By the same token, if the Ukraine had been more paranoid about Russian intentions, they might not have been invaded by Russia yet again. It’s not just the US, Poland has no interest in becoming a Russian satellite again. We can try to equivocate, but after WWII Russia took over half of Europe, and the US didn’t.

Would Russia have rebuilt Japan and let it go? The history of (East) Germany suggests an answer.

Re: Putin's Hypersonic Weapon Appears to Be a Modified Iskander Ballistic Missile

#20

Post by torstenvl »

s3nnyy wrote: post #2

Is there seriously some new cold war going on? I read in other media how some new American weapons can fight certain Russian tanks etc, and now I read about Putin bragging about his new weapons. My prediction for the post-Sovjet area was that the US and Russia would just leave each other in peace.

So long as Russia has territory it doesn't control inside what it views to be its natural geological boundaries, there will always be Russian aggression.

Russia very much wants to "never get involved in a land war in Asia." To that end, it wants a solid mountain boundary from the Carpathians to the Tien Shan, and the Gobi desert from there to the Pacific. Until then, you can expect continued encroachments on Ukraine, the Caucuses, and steppe Central Asia, and continued buildup of its military capabilities.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5497331ae4b0148a6141b...

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