Russia Continues Military Buildup

From Reuters.

Russia  carried out a successful test of its new Bulava intercontinental nuclear missile on Wednesday and will perform two more test launches in October and November, the head of its naval forces said.

The armed forces have boosted their military training and test drills since the start of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which Russia considers in its traditional sphere of influence.

The 12-meter long Bulava, or mace, has undergone numerous tests, some successful, and can deliver an impact of up to 100 times the atomic blast that devastated Hiroshima in 1945.

Naval Commander-in-Chief Admiral Viktor Chirkov said the test launch had been carried out from the White Sea and that the test missile had hit its target in Russia’s far east.

“In October and November of this year, the naval fleet will carry out two more launches with two rocket cruisers equipped with ballistic missiles,” Interfax quoted Chirkov as saying.

A Bulava missile weighs 36.8 tonnes and can travel 8,000 km (5,000 miles) and hold 6-10 nuclear warheads.

From Fox Dallas Ft. Worth.

Russia is developing an array of new nuclear and conventional weapons to counter recent moves by the U.S. and NATO, but will carefully weigh the costs to avoid overburdening its economy, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday.

Addressing a Kremlin meeting on weapons modernization plans, Putin said the West shouldn’t be surprised about Moscow’s efforts in view of U.S. missile defense plans and other decisions he said have threatened Russia’s security.

“We have warned many times that we would have to take corresponding countermeasures to ensure our security,” Putin said, adding that he would now take personal charge of the government commission that oversees military industries.

He said the weapons modernization program for 2016-2025 should focus on building a new array of offensive weapons to provide a “guaranteed nuclear deterrent,” re-arming strategic and long-range aviation, creating an aerospace defense system and developing high-precision conventional weapons.

Putin wouldn’t provide any details of prospective weapons, but he and other officials have repeatedly boasted about new Russian nuclear missiles’ capability to penetrate any prospective missile shield.

……Russia-West relations have plunged to their lowest point since the Cold War times over the crisis in Ukraine. A NATO summit last week decided to create a rapid-reaction “spearhead” force to protect Eastern Europe from Russian bullying.

Putin accused the West of using the crisis to reinvigorate NATO.

That’s funny as hell, because from what we’ve seen, Russia is reinvigorating the old Soviet threat.  Everything Putin does is a throwback to the old Soviet regime.  He sends political opponents to insane asylums, murders journalists, and has tightened his grip on the Russian media. Vlad is an old KGB officer and never assimilated into the post-Soviet democratic movement.

As I said before: Putin can’t believe his luck.  The United States has been rendered effectively pussified for the duration of Obama’s tenure, and he is going to take full advantage.  He is re-arming and building up his weapons stockpiles to levels not seen since the Berlin Wall fell. Oh yeah, and he’s also got the balls to tell the West ‘not to mess with Russia’, something no Russian thug would have gotten away with under Reagan.  It’s no wonder Putin is so brazen. Barky gets bitch-slapped by Putin so often, he’s punch drunk.

Welcome to the Cold War part II.