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Russian Missile Failures Charles R. Smith Russian nuclear forces took a hit recently when the latest test of their Bulava missile failed. The Bulava, a submarine version of Moscow's Topol-M, was launched by a North Fleet submarine. This is the third time in a row that the Bulava missile has failed. "The first stage performed well, the second stage performed well, but the third stage, not so well," stated Anatoly Perminov, head of the Federal Space Agency. The two previous unsuccessful launches occurred Sept. 7 and Oct. 25 from a Russian missile submarine located in the White Sea. The first missile failed to reach its target, and the second was destroyed after it flew outside of its intended course. The R-30 Bulava (SS-NX-30) ballistic missile was developed at the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology. The missile, a modified version of the land based Topol-M strategic missile now in service, can carry up to 10 nuclear warheads and has a range of over 5,000 miles. Readers of this column may remember the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology. The boys at MITT are avid fans of Bill Clinton. In 1997, MITT credited the Clinton administration with selling them several IBM and Silicon Graphics super-computers. MITT officials openly bragged that the new Topol-M 550 kiloton H-bomb warhead was designed using the American super-computers.
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Both IBM and Silicon Graphics were fined for selling the super-computers to the Russian nuclear weapons lab. The Bulava launch failure comes on the heels of two major events for the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces. The first was a successful launch of the largest ICBM in service, the SS-18 Satan. The trainer warhead of the RS-20V, NATO code name SS-18 Satan, hit a designated target at the Kura range on the Kamchatka peninsula. The aging Satan missile is expected to be the mainstay for the next decade as Russia slowly expands its small force of Topol-M missiles. The SS-18 that was tested had been in service since 1988. The Satan is considered to be a giant among missiles and is reportedly capable of carrying 20 warheads mounted on a school bus sized bombing platform. Oil for Nukes The second bit of good news for the Russian missile forces is the price of oil. Higher oil prices have allowed Moscow to spend more on keeping nuclear warheads in service. Russia was to retire a large number of multiple warhead missiles in order to save money, replacing them with the single warhead version of the Topol-M.
However, higher oil prices and petroleum profits have allowed Moscow to improve its nuclear sword. Russian defense sources indicate that the next round of Topol-M purchases will include 3 warheads on each missile. The new budget allows Moscow to keep at least 2,000 warheads in service after 2012. The oil dollars in Moscow's budget have also allowed Russia to declare new limits on its biggest trading partner. The latest proclamation from inside the Kremlin is that China will not get advanced Russian space and missile technology. Anatoly Perminov, chief of Russia's Federal Space Agency, said Moscow would maintain strict controls on sharing space technology with China. "The Chinese are still some 30 years behind us, but their space program has been developing very fast," Perminov stated a recent press conference. "They are quickly catching up with us . . . For China, whose economy has seen an immense growth, its space program has been one of the top national priorities," stated Perminov. "They are spending much more on space compared to Russia . . . and their space industries employ many times more the number of scientists and workers than Russia's." "We aren't transferring any technologies to China now. This issue has been under special control of the government," Perminov said. The Chinese missile and space programs depend greatly on exports from Moscow. For example, Beijing combined stolen U.S. missile guidance and warhead technology with Russian rocket engine and road mobile missile systems to create a new ICBM — the Dong Feng 31.
Growing Rift With China Yet, China has also been accused by Moscow of stealing Russian space and missile technology. During the press conference, Perminov said some Russian scientists had violated the ban on exports of advanced space technology to China. The move to restrict technology transfers to Beijing is seen as a growing trend inside Moscow. Russia has encountered several problems during its years of free wheeling military sales to China. For example, China continues to violate license agreements made with Russia for the MiG-21 jet fighter. China negotiated a license deal to produce the MiG-21 as the J-7 in 1961. However, after the license expired, Beijing began to manufacture the fighter for both its own air force and for export in competition with Russian jet fighters. Today China continues to manufacture and export the J-7, selling large numbers of improved versions to Pakistan and Sudan. The current model of the J-7 comes equipped with the latest western avionics. In fact, customers are given a choice between advanced Chinese, Israeli or Italian radar systems. There are similar fears in Moscow that China will use other advanced Russian technology to build its own manufacturing and export base. The latest Chinese FC-1 jet fighter is to be exported to Pakistan. The FC-1 is also powered by a Russian Klimov engine. In response, Russia decided to limit the number of Klimov engines sold to China in order to not threaten its own export jet fighter sales and to not anger India, the second largest buyer of Russian weaponry. U.S./Russia Tension There are signs that relations between Washington and Moscow are not all wine and roses. One ongoing argument between Russia and the U.S. centers on nuclear technology sales to Iran. Russia support for Iran also includes sales of sophisticated air defense systems to protect Iranian nuclear sites. In addition, last year Russia came under fire following gas cuts to Ukraine. The dispute highlighted the bad-blood between Moscow and Ukraine's pro-Western leadership. In 2006, Vice President Dick Cheney accused Russia of using its energy supplies to intimidate and blackmail smaller neighbors. The energy issue is again raising its head in Moscow as a dispute boils between Belarus and Russia over gas prices. Belarus issued a threat that it could stop Russian gas deliveries through its pipelines to western Europe unless Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom back off demands that Minsk pay more for gas in 2007.
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