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posted by martyb on Friday March 02 2018, @04:41AM   Printer-friendly
from the duck-and-cover dept.

Putin, before vote, unveils 'invincible' nuclear weapons to counter West

President Vladimir Putin unveiled an array of new nuclear weapons on Thursday, in one of his most bellicose speeches in years, saying they could hit almost any point in the world and evade a U.S.-built missile shield. [...] His remarks were greeted with scepticism in Washington, where officials cast doubt on whether Russia has added any new capabilities to its nuclear arsenal beyond those already known to the U.S. military and intelligence agencies.

[...] Among weapons that Putin said were either in development or ready was a new intercontinental ballistic missile "with a practically unlimited range" able to attack via the North and South Poles and bypass any missile defense systems.

Putin also spoke of a small nuclear-powered engine that could be fitted to what he said were low-flying, highly maneuverable cruise missiles, giving them a practically unlimited range. The new engine meant Russia was able to make a new type of weapon - nuclear missiles powered by nuclear rather than conventional fuel. "Nothing like it in the world exists," Putin told the audience. "At some point it will probably appear (elsewhere) but by that time our guys will have devised something else."

Other new super weapons he listed included underwater nuclear drones, a supersonic weapon and a laser weapon. In one of his video clip demos, a weapon appeared to be hovering over what looked like a map of the state of Florida.


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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday March 02 2018, @09:07AM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday March 02 2018, @09:07AM (#646291) Journal

    I mentioned "ensure the order is carried out".

    We can speculate about which country has more safeguards preventing a nuclear strike order from an unhinged leader.

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  • (Score: 2) by jelizondo on Saturday March 03 2018, @01:17AM

    by jelizondo (653) Subscriber Badge on Saturday March 03 2018, @01:17AM (#646752) Journal

    As far as I can tell, the Russians have shown courage and refused to launch nuclear weapons even when ordered to do so. I can’t find a similar case of U.S. servicemen.

    If history is any guide, the only country who has actually used nuclear weapons is the U.S. It could be argued that the serviceman ordered to destroy Hiroshima didn’t know the effects of the bomb, but by the time Nagasaki came along, they surely did.

    Of course, we are not talking about obliterating a single city, we are talking about a major catastrophe, the end of civilization and perhaps of the human species, so it is to be hoped that anyone, anywhere, receiving the order to launch nuclear weapons will refuse.