NATIONAL SECURITY/NUCLEAR/RUSSIA: “Russia has developed nuclear weapons capable of penetrating U.S. air-defense systems, the country’s president, Vladimir Putin, said Thursday [3-1-18], sharpening rhetoric against the West and raising the prospect of a new arms race with Washington.
In language reminiscent of the Cold War, Mr. Putin used his annual state of the union address to boast about Russia’s military prowess and show off a series of new armaments, including intercontinental-ballistic missiles and underwater drones…
Amid applause from the audience, a video showed a computerized image of a missile fired from northern Russia flying across the Atlantic Ocean, evading air defenses, then circling the southern tip of South America before heading north toward the U.S.
Mr. Putin said would consider any nuclear attack on its allies an attack on Russia and would launch an immediate response…
The Trump administration has warned that Russia and China are moving to modernize and expand their nuclear arsenals in a bid to ‘return to Great Power competition.’
The U.S., in a recent report of American nuclear capabilities, said it is reviewing ‘military concepts and options for conventional, ground-launched, intermediate-range missile systems’ and outlined possible diplomatic, economic and military responses to Russian advances.”
-Thomas Grove and James Marson, “Putin Unveils Nuclear Weapons He Claims Could Breach U.S. Defenses,” The Wall Street Journal online, Mar. 1, 2018 09:43am