"If reports in Russian state media last Friday are accurate, the world may be on the brink of seeing a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) race, though of a conventional type rather than the nuclear arms race of the Cold War.
According to a report by RIA Novosti, Moscow may be developing a heavy-liquid-fuel, non-nuclear, precision-guided payload capability for a new class of ICBMs, which would give Russia near-global coverage similar to that sought by the U.S. under the controversial “Prompt Global Strike” program.
Using rhetoric that harkened back to the dark days of the Cold War, Russian Strategic Missile Forces Commander Colonel General Sergei Karakayev warned that Russia could develop its own strategic conventional ICBM force if the U.S. did not pull back from its efforts to create such a system, which gives the U.S. the ability to strike targets anywhere in the world within a matter of minutes.
In an apparent reference to U.S. and NATO plans to deploy missile defense systems in Europe, Karakayev said the new ICBM would be able to penetrate “any missile defense system likely to emerge in the near future.” Although the U.S. claims that the defense systems are targeted at a nuclear-armed Iran, Moscow contends that the deployment will also allow for the intercept of Russian ICBMs and thus undermine its deterrent capability.
Unlike current solid-fuel ICBMs, “the higher energy provided by liquid fuels gives it more varied and effective methods of countermeasures against global missile defense screens, including space-based elements of those systems,” Russian media quoted Karakayev as saying (“while less stable than solid fuel,liquid fuel propellants provide the highest energy per unit of fuel mass and variable thrust capability”).
Karakayev’s remarks could furthermore indicate breakthroughs in missile maneuverability, an important component in a missile’s ability to penetrate air defenses.
According to the Colonel General, the new missile will be deployed by 2018 and will be “largely superior” to its predecessors, including the Voyevoda (SS-18 “Satan”)..."
at http://stratrisks.com/geostrat/9935
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