Massive Escalation: US Launches 4 Sub Based ICBMs Off China Coast

And the world has to worry about Iran? 

A Trident II missile breaks water after firing from a submarine. (US Navy photo)

The US Navy has test-fired four nuclear-capable ballistic missiles from a submarine in the Pacific Ocean amid simmering tensions with Russia, China and North Korea.Four Trident ll D missiles were launched successfully from an Ohio class ballistic missile submarine in the Pacific Test Range over a three-day period since Thursday, the US Navy said in a statement.“An Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine assigned to Submarine Group 9 completed a Follow-on Commander’s Evaluation Test (FCET) Feb[ruary] 16, resulting in four successful test flights of Trident II D5 missiles,” the statement added.The test launch of the nuclear capable missile system was part of regular tests that “are conducted on a frequent, recurring basis to ensure the continued reliability of the system,” said John Daniels, a spokesman for the Strategic Systems Program, which oversees the Ohio-class Trident submarine program.The “test flights were not conducted in response to any ongoing world events or as a demonstration of power,” Daniels said.Trident ll D is a submarine-launched ballistic missile that can carry multiple thermonuclear warheads. They are deployed with the American and British navies.Read More:‘Trump not to resume nuclear treaty with Russia’The US Navy has test-fired four nuclear-capable ballistic missiles from a submarine in the Pacific Ocean amid simmering tensions with Russia, China and North Korea.Four Trident ll D missiles have been launched successfully from an Ohio class ballistic missile submarine in the Pacific Test Range over a three-day period since Thursday, the US Navy announced.The test launch of the nuclear capable missile system was part of regular tests that “are conducted on a frequent, recurring basis to ensure the continued reliability of the system,” said John Daniels, a spokesman for the Strategic Systems Program, which oversees the Ohio-class Trident submarine program.The “test flights were not conducted in response to any ongoing world events or as a demonstration of power,” Daniels said.Trident ll D is a submarine-launched ballistic missile that can carry multiple thermonuclear warheads. They are deployed with the American and British navies.The tests come days after North Korea announced the successful test of its long-range ballistic missile in the Sea of Japan and after Russia reportedly deployed cruise missiles in violation of a 1987 treaty between Washington and Moscow.

US President-elect Donald Trump (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin

Last month, US President Donald Trump told Russian leader Vladimir Putin he does not want to renew a 2010 nuclear arms reduction treaty between Washington and Moscow because the deal was bad for the United States.During his first call as president with Putin on January 28, Trump said the New START treaty favored Russia, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing current and former US officials with knowledge of the call.New START gives both countries until February 2018 to reduce their deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550, the lowest level in decades. However, it does not limit the number of operationally inactive nuclear warheads that remain in the high thousands in both the US and Russian stockpiles.

Russia’s Polyana Command & Control Post Can Track 500 Targets Simultaneously

This week Russian civil and defense concern Roselektronika premiered Polyana-D4M1, an automated command and control system for air defense, at the IDEX-2017 defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi. Sputnik gets into the details of what exactly the system is capable of.Speaking to Expert Online, a representative of Rostec, the state holding company which Roselektronika is part of, explained that the Polyana-D4M1 command and control system is designed to control anti-aircraft missile systems with a variety of ranges, including long-range systems like the S-300, medium-range weapons like the Buk-M1, and short-range systems like the Tor-M1 missile system.According to Rostec, the Polyana-D4M1 is designed to help defend vast territories of up to 800 by 800 square kilometers (which is about one hundred thousand square kilometers larger than the country of France) against air attack. The system can monitor up to 500 enemy objects at a time, tracking up to 255 of them in real time.State-of-the-Art Defense: One Russia’s S-400 Worth Four US Patriot PAC-3Equipped with 20 data channels, the system collects and processes information from both ground- and air-based radar systems, as well as air traffic control centers. Polyana can communicate with up to 14 anti-aircraft missile systems, command posts and headquarters simultaneously.In other words, the system coordinates air defense – protecting critical government facilities, industrial areas, military bases and areas where military units may be deployed. In a conflict situation, the Polyana-D4M1 becomes a fire control system for subordinate air defense installations on the basis of data it receives from radar reconnaissance.The response time for the C&C system (i.e. the time between when Polyana receives the signal and the time it communicates it to subordinate air defense systems to fire) is only 2-3 seconds.
The Polyana-D4M1 package includes the mobile command point itself, a command staff vehicle, a support vehicle, and two mobile diesel electrical generating stations.According to Rostec, the system is equipped with built-in artificial intelligence and, consequently, is capable of accumulating knowledge. The system is capable of managing air defense in three basic modes –manual (based entirely on operator commands), semi-automatic (the operator is issued recommendations and chooses whether to approve them or not), and fully automatic (where the operator does not take part in the control process, and decisions are managed by AI).Russia’s Next Gen S-500 Prototype Launch Date AnnouncedGiven the system’s use of modern electronics, it is subject to incremental improvements –from the expansion in the number of controllable missile systems, to expansion in the number of radar systems providing it with data.The Polyana-D4M1 is capable of ‘plugging in’ to both Russian and foreign-made air defense systems. Accordingly, Rostec says that the system is flexible enough to be a good buy for foreign buyers, since it can be adapted and integrated into the air defense control systems of any country.Development of the Polyana-D4, the D4M1’s predecessor, began in the late Soviet period, with the system adopted into the Soviet Army’s air defense forces starting in 1986. Production of the system was initially organized at the Minsk Electromechanical Plant, but later transferred to the Penza Radio Factory in Penza, central Russia. Since then, the system has been given multiple and substantive upgrades, taking into account the serious advances in the radio-electronic industry in recent years.

China Successfully Test Launches New DF-41 ICBM Into the South China SeaIs China sending Washington a message?

China conducted a test launch of its newest nuclear capable ICBM, the DF-41, on April 12th. The missile was launched from a road-mobile launch vehicle. Two multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV) from the launch were tracked by U.S. satellites.Some sources claim that the unarmed MIRVs splashed down somewhere in the South China Sea, but neither Chinese nor U.S. officials will confirm this. In response to questions regarding the impact location of the dummy warheads, the Chinese Defense Ministry cryptically responded that, “It is normal for China to execute scientific experiments within its territory, and these experiments are not aimed at any specific country nor target”, admitting only that the missile was test fired “near the South China Sea on April 12.”
China had conducted an earlier DF-41 canister ejection test from a rail-based launcher on December 5th of last year. The DF-41 is designed to be launched from rail-based and road-mobile launchers as opposed to a stationary silo, so as to maximize the difficulty in tracking their location and to improve the chances of their survivability in a first strike.The DF-41, or Dong Feng (East Wind)-41 has an effective range of between 7,500 and 9,300 miles, allowing it to hit any point in the continental United States within 30 minutes from launch. The ICBM is also capable of delivering up to ten MIRVs.The most recent test exhibited the DF-41s ability to deliver at least two MIRVS. China most likely did not test the missile with the maximum MIRV payload, as to keep foreign intelligence services in question as to the exact capacity of the DF-41.DF-41 on a road-mobile launcher.China aims to deploy the DF-41 in both a road-mobile and a rail-based variant by 2020, and it appears that the ICBM is in the advanced stages of development. China has made a great deal of progress over the past decade in developing more advanced, MIRV capable ICBMs both for its newly renamed People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, and People’s Liberation Army Navy nuclear ballistic missile submarine fleet.The Chinese are also developing maneuvering reentry vehicles (MARV) for their ICBMs. These MARVs make the warheads much harder to intercept upon separation from the ICBM and during re-entry. The DF-41 will most likely have MARV capability upon its eventual deployment with the PLA Rocket Force in the coming years.At a time when Congressional leaders, lobbyists, and military analysts are questioning the age and viability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent, both China and Russia have been quantitatively and qualitatively enhancing their own nuclear capabilities.China has at least 4 Type 094 Jin Class SSBNs in service conducting deterrent patrols, with four additional vessels planned to be built and commissioned by 2020. The Type 094 carries 12 JL-2 submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) that carry 2 to 3 MIRVs each and have an effective range of approximately 4,600 miles.Two PLAN Type 094 SSBNs.Russia has similarly made headway in recent years in updating its submarine based nuclear deterrent fleet by fielding 3 out of a planned 8 total Dolgorukiy (NATO designation Borei) Class SSBNs. Otherwise known as the Project 955, the 4thgeneration SSBN has enough launch cells to accommodate 16 RSM-56 Bulava SLBMs.The Bulava has an effective range of 5,600 miles and can carry 6 to 10 MIRVs. The 5 submarines yet to be completed have been redesigned to accommodate a payload of 20 Bulava SLBMs.Project 955 Borei Class SSBN.The Russian RS-24 Yars fifth generation ICBM has been in service since 2010, with 63 road-mobile units and 10 silo based units fielded by January of this year. The Yars has an effective range of 6,800 miles and can carry up to 10 MIRVs.Each warhead is equipped with advanced ABM defeating countermeasures, making it very difficult for anti-ballistic missile systems to target and defeat. Russia plans on replacing all of its older ICBMs with both the RS-24 Yars and the Topol-M.RS-24 Yars road-mobile launchers on display at the 2015 Victory Day Parade in Moscow.The more advanced RS-28 Sarmat ICBM is also in the advanced stages of research and development and is slated to replace the SS-18 Satan in the Russian nuclear deterrent arsenal. The RS-28 Sarmat is expected to start undergoing advanced testing this summer, with operational deployment beginning in 2018.Russia is currently developing hypersonic delivery vehicles for the 10 warheads that the RS-28 is designed to carry. Hypersonic MARVs are not only capable of changing trajectory, but also fly at such a high speed that they will be virtually impossible to intercept.Whether the latest test launch by China of the DF-41 ICBM was meant to send multiple messages to Washington or not is up to interpretation.If it is confirmed that the dummy warheads that splashed down in the South China Sea, just days after U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter visited the USS John C. Stennis CSG in the region on April 16th, the message to the U.S. is quite clear.China is sending the message that they are not only capable and willing to fight the U.S. in China’s back yard, but are quickly obtaining the ability to strike the U.S. in its own back yard.