A senior Iranian official says Major General Qassem Soleimani, who commands the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), had provided the Foreign Ministry with documents showing that the US is in league with the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Iranian parliament speaker’s special adviser on international affairs, who previously served at the Foreign Ministry, made the revelation in a program run on the Iranian broadcaster, the IRIB.
“When I was at the Foreign Ministry, I had a meeting with General Soleimani. He gave me documents and told me to slap them in the face of the West and the UN,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
“The documents provided by General Soleimani contained precise information on the geographical position, time and exact details (of US collusion with Daesh),” Amir-Abdollahian said.
“When Mosul in Iraq was under the Daesh occupation, an American A330 landed at Mosul Airport, American generals got off the plane and military equipment was unloaded,” he explained. “At the airport’s VIP lounge, the American generals talked with Daesh leaders in Mosul for three hours and 23 minutes and then boarded the plane and returned”… … …
FALSE FLAG & WAR CRIMES RED ALERT: U.S. TRAINING ITS MERCENARY-TERRORISTS IN SYRIA FOR FALSE FLAG CHEMICAL ATTACK AS BASIS FOR AIRSTRIKES ON ANTI-TERRORISTS FORCES OF THE SYRIAN, IRANIAN & RUSSIAN MILITARY FORCES.
Russia’s Defense Ministry says “US instructors” are training militants to stage false flag chemical attacks in south Syria. The incidents are said to be a pretext for airstrikes on Syrian government troops and infrastructure.
“We have reliable information at our disposal that US instructors have trained a number of militant groups in the vicinity of the town of At-Tanf, to stage provocations involving chemical warfare agents in southern Syria,” Russian General Staff spokesman General Sergey Rudskoy said at a news briefing on Saturday.
“Early in March, the saboteur groups were deployed to the southern de-escalation zone to the city of Deraa, where the units of the so-called Free Syrian Army are stationed.”
They are preparing a series of chemical munitions explosions. This fact will be used to blame the government forces. The components to produce chemical munitions have been already delivered to the southern de-escalation zone under the guise of humanitarian convoys of a number of NGOs.”
The planned provocations will be widely covered in the Western media and will ultimately be used as a pretext by the US-led coalition to launch strikes on Syria, Rudskoy warned.
“The provocations will be used as a pretext by the United States and its allies to launch strikes on military and government infrastructure in Syria,” the official stated.
“We’re registering the signs of the preparations for the possible strikes. Strike groups of the cruise missile carriers have been formed in the east of the Mediterranean Sea, Persian Gulf and Red Sea.”… … …
President al-Assad also met a number of families from Eastern Ghouta who were released by Syrian Arab Army from terrorists.
During his visit, al-Assad met with several officers and soldiers of the Syrian Republican Guard.
“Every bullet you fired to kill a terrorist, you were changing the balance of the world with it … Each tank driver was moving one meter forward, he was changing the political map of the world,” al-Assad told a gathering of Syrian officers and soldiers according to the Syrian Presidency Office”.
Later, the Syrian president met with civilians who had been recently evacuated by the Syrian Arab Army and its allies from the militant-held areas in the East Ghouta region.
Previously, Al-Assad visited several areas right before its liberation, including the key district of Baba Omro in the city of Homs and the Daraya district west of Damascus.. … …
While canvassing al-Shefounieh town in Eastern Ghouta on Tuesday, a Syrian Arab Army unit uncovered in a plant that terrorists had used for manufacturing toxic chemicals prior to their defeat.
A field commander told SANA’s reporter from inside the plant that an army unit uncovered it while canvassing operations for defusing IEDs were being carried out after clearing al-Shefounieh town in Douma area of terrorists (VIDEO).
The commander said that the plant, which consists of a two-story building with a basement located between Douma and al-Shefounieh, and that it included a lab for making toxic chemicals containing equipment of Saudi origin and materials and protection gear of Western origin.
In another video is shown another warehouse for the storage of chemical weapons in the city of Aftris… … …
Speaking during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on March 13, Army Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of U.S. Central Command, claimed Russia and Iran are destabilizing the fight against ISIS in Syria and accused Tehran and Moscow of preventing Syria from “moving forward.”
“The biggest threat in Syria right now is all the other instability that is taking place that is preventing the country from moving forward …Certainly Iran is an aspect of this but so is Russia.“
Votel also said that the UN ceasefire imposed last month has had little effect and complained that the increase of Russian air defense capabilities in Syria threaten the US air power’s dominance… … …
The Syrian Army troops continued their night operation against terrorists in Eastern Ghouta and seized full control over the strategic settlement of Hamouriyeh in the Southern part of Eastern Ghouta, field sources said on Friday.
The sources said that the army men managed to impose full control over Hamouriyeh after heavy fighting with terrorists after hours of a daily-based ceasefire ended on Thursday, adding that the fall of Hamouriyeh will enable the army to advance towards Saqba, Arbin and Hazeh regions.
Also, the army gained fire control over terrorists’ supply lines in the depth of Eastern Ghouta after Hamouriyeh came under their control.
We have a significant development from the Syrian enclave of Eastern Ghouta. Eleven thousand civilians are said to have escaped the rebel-controlled area via a humanitarian corridor established by Russia and Syria. While some of them go by car, most still travel over this long distance on foot. Entire families are seen leaving the area, with the people often carrying their children. Some are also seen carrying stretchers with injured or sick relatives.
The people who managed to flee the areas controlled by the mercenary-terrorist gangs said that terrorists continue to use civilians as human shields and commit various atrocities against the locals, preventing them from leaving. “The terrorists did not let us leave. They hid behind our backs,” a young man who came from the militant-held territory told RT. He went on to say that “the situation there [in the areas controlled by the armed groups] is dire,” adding that the locals are being “exploited and starved” by the militants. The extremists do not give food to the locals, supplying only those who help them, the man said, adding that their own warehouses are “full of foodstuff.” An old man, who also left eastern Ghouta through the humanitarian corridor on Thursday, said that there are no locals among the militants that control the region. He also said that they kill every local who dares to “say something against them.”
Earlier, evacuees also provided accounts of how militants controlling Eastern Ghouta drove up food prices and imposed harsh punishments for even the slightest transgressions. …(…read more…)…
The battle against Islamic State in Syria may be nearing its end, but the conflict in this war-torn country seems far from over.
Competing factions and old rivalries have created a complicated, uncertain future for Syria.
With so many different warring parties wrestling for control of Syria’s fate, it seems prudent to review the conflict’s major actors – and where their allegiances lie… … …
The US has established as many as 20 military bases in the part of Kurdistan that lies within Syria, the Russian National Security Council has stated according to Russian media.
The establishment of peace in war-torn Syria is impeded by external – in particular, American – interference in the crisis, Assistant to the Secretary of the Russian Security Council Alexander Venediktov told Ria Novosti.
“The return of peace and stability to Syria is hampered by continued external interference in the Syrian crisis. For example, in the territory controlled by the people’s self-defense units of Kurdistan, some 20 US military bases have been created,” the official said.
U.S. interference in the Syria conflict has provoked Turkey into launching a military operation targeting Kurdish militias in the northern Syrian region of Afrin.
The provocation took the form of “boosting” the Kurds with advanced weaponry, according to Venediktov… … …
Informed and reliable local sources said that the attempt of the terrorist organizations in Eastern Ghouta to accuse the Syrian Arab Army of using the chemical weapon came in the frame of completing the desperate attempts of some western countries at the UN Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council to rescue the terrorists from their inevitable end at the hands of the Syrian Arab Army.
The sources added that the victories achieved by the army against terrorists in Ghouta made the terrorists and their sponsors repeat their common lies and fabricate allegations to stop the advance of the army and protect the terrorists, in addition to using those allegations as a pretext to launch aggression against Syria.
The Syrian Government has warned at the UN sessions against that campaign through which the terrorist organizations are preparing for this scenario… … …
In terms of the actual failure of diplomatic efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis, the threat of a direct armed conflict between Russia and the United States is becoming more and more of a reality.
In simulating a possible armed conflict between the Armed Forces of the involved countries, we can state with some confidence that it will commence with a series of provocative actions. Possibilities include air strikes of “unknown aircraft” on civilians, the use of chemical weapons, destruction of humanitarian convoys, “shooting” at military aircraft or ships of the coalition forces, and possibly even encompassing their complete destruction. The United States and Western countries will undoubtedly accuse the Syrian or Russian Armed Forces of any such action in this regard.
Furthermore, bypassing all the international organizations and their resolutions, a certain “group of friends of Syria” will declare a decision to establish a no-fly zone over Syria to “ensure the safety of the civilian population” as part of the US “R2P – Responsibility To Protect strategy. After a repeated provocative episode, for example, the use of chemical weapons, there will be an announcement for the beginning of a full scale military operation against the “criminal regime and its ally”
If it is decided to fully implement this power projection scenario, the target of the first strike will be air defense systems and command and control centers of the Syrian army. The US would show their strength and willingness to take extreme measures to offset the Assad regime. In this scenario, the campaign against the media propagandized “universal evil” is to improve the reputation of the United States on the world stage… … …
The U.S. is furious over the collapse of terrorists in the Syrian capital’s subrub of Eastern Ghouta.
U.S. ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley just threatened that the US will strike Syrian government forces if they don’t start their operation against terrorists in the area.
“We also warn any nation that is determined to impose its will through chemical attacks and inhuman suffering, most especially the outlaw Syrian regime, the United States remains prepared to act if we must,” Haley said.
The comment was made after the US diplomat said that the previous UN ceasefire resolution on Syria had “failed” accusing the Syrian government, Russia and Iran of this.
Meanwhile, Russian ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia accused militants in Eastern Ghouta of using chlorine gas.
“According to information at our disposal, on March 5, Al-Nusra [Hayat Tahrir al-Sham] militants used chorine substance in Eastern Ghouta, which injured 30 civilians. All this is done to prepare the grounds for unilateral military actions against sovereign Syria,” Nebenzia stated. “The suburbs of Damascus cannot remain a hotbed of terrorism. And it is being used for continued attempts by terrorists to undermine the cessation of hostilities.”
Nebenzia went further and said that the Syrian government has every right to eliminate terrorists near Damascus… … …
Russia’s envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia has accused militant groups in Eastern Ghouta of using chlorine gas, while stressing that the Syrian government has every right to eradicate the “terrorism hotbed” near its capital.
Nebenzia has defended Syria’s government and the ongoing anti-terrorism operation in Eastern Ghouta, asserting that it has “every right to try and remove the threat to the safety of its citizens.”
“According to information at our disposal, on March 5, Al-Nusra militants used chorine substance in Eastern Ghouta, which injured 30 civilians. All this is done to prepare the grounds for unilateral military actions against sovereign Syria,” Nebenzia stated.
“The suburbs of Damascus cannot remain a hotbed of terrorism. And it is being used for continued attempts by terrorists to undermine the cessation of hostilities.”
The Syrian Army troops carried out mop-up operations in Eastern Ghouta and found a workshop used by the terrorists for making chemical weapons, a Russian media outlet reported on Monday.
The Arabic-language website of Sputnik quoted Syrian Army Colonel Feras Ibrahim as saying that the army men seized a workshop that was used by the terrorists to build chemical weapons near the small town of Aftaris.
He further told Sputnik that the seized chemicals would likely be used to launch a false-flag chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta to later accuse the army of the attack… … …
[Excerpts from SouthFront, 12/3/2018] ~ Last weekend a defense of militant groups operating in Eastern Ghouta collapsed under pressure of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies and the militant-held pocket was cut off into two separate parts. ~ Government forces liberated the town of Madiera, almost isolated the neighborhood of Harasta, captured farms near Jisrin and attacked Atfris. ~ The area of Douma is controlled by Jaish al-Islam with help of some units of Ahrar al-Sham, while the southern pocket is jointly controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda), Faylaq al-Rahman and Ahrar al-Sham. ~ On the same day, some pro-militant sources and mainstream media outlets released reports about a new chemical attack allegedly conducted by the Syrian government. The chlorine gas attack allegedly hit people in the neighborhood of Irbin. No evidence confirming these claims were provided. ~ It’s interesting to note these media reports came just few hours following the collapse of the militants’ defense in Madiera. ~
On March 12, the SAA continued its advance aiming to isolate Harasta from Douma. According to pro-government sources, SAA units already achieved this goal. However, they still have to secure the recent gains.
Reports are circulating that US and Israeli-backed militant groups are preparing for an attack against the SAA in the city of Daraa in southern Syria. The alleged attack would exploit the SAA involvement in Eastern Ghouta operation and aimed at indirectly assisting militants there.
The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) troops continued to march on the terrorists in the depth of Eastern Ghouta and drove a wedge between the Southern and Northern parts of Eastern Ghouta, military sources reported on Sunday.
The sources said that the SAA men deployed in the newly-freed town of Mesraba stormed terrorists’ strongholds in the depth of Eastern Ghouta and drove the terrorists out of the strategic Modira settlement.
They went on to say that SAA further reached the Vehicles Management Center in Harasta and managed to divide Eastern Ghouta into two parts… … …
“The Turkish government has opened the border for tens of thousands of terrorists to enter Syria,” Bashar Jaafari told Sputnik.
The Syrian senior diplomat further accused Ankara of providing terrorists with arms, financing their activities, setting a camp for their military training on Turkey’s territory, and facilitating their access to chemical weapons.
According to Jaafari, terrorist groups allegedly inspired by the Turkish government robbed factories in Aleppo. The value of the loot is estimated to amount to tens of billions of US dollars.
Syrian envoy to the UN also rebuked Turkey’s did aggression into his country’s Afrin region, stressing that Turkey in its official statements refused to comply with the provisions of UNSC Resolution 2401 on cessation of hostilities in Syria… … …
The US and the Israeli regime have begun joint military drills with the presence of thousands of troops, with the declared aim being improving combat readiness of the two sides’ militaries for a joint regional conflict and also exploring ways to address possible missile attacks.
The drills, code named Juniper Cobra, include simulation of a scenario that leads to the American troops’ entry to Occupied Palestinian territories and jointly working to secure its airspace.
Reportedly, so far some 2,500 American military personnel and dozens of military vehicles have also been deployed to join the exercises. On the Israeli side, some 2,000 troops will also take roles.
The military drills are scheduled to last for two weeks. The main part started from March 4 and will last until March 15, but the practices and training will last to the end of the month, according to sources familiar will the event.
Last month, the Syrian air defenses shot down an Israeli air force’s fighter jet after it, together with other jets, carried out attacks into the Syrian territories… … …
The Tiger Forces, backed by HZB and other militias approved by the Syrian government, are poised to finish their work in the East Ghouta in a mere 5 days. Muhammad ‘Alloosh, the gangster-like boss of Jaysh Al-Islam, can see the writing on the wall. It is hard enough to keep his savages in a state of acceptable morale when the Ghouta has been cleft in twain, but much harder when Saudi money is not coming, tunnels are all destroyed, civilians are in open revolt and the Saraab 2 anti-anti-tank system has been working superbly. Nothing in the terrorist arsenal is effective against the Saraab once installed on a T-72 tank. They might as well use spitballs.
‘Alloosh has reportedly been inundated with demands that he end the torture by negotiating a withdrawal from the Ghouta. My source in Damascus informs me that the Russian government has a negotiating team on the ground in the capital tasked with ridding the area of these parasites. The offer is the same as all others: the terrorists will board buses provided by the Syrian government and the safety of those withdrawing with their families is guaranteed by Moscow. It has worked splendidly in the past. They will be redirected to Idlib where they can bask in the glory and resplendence of ‘Abdullah Al-Muhaysini.
UPDATE: Thirteen terrorists have left on green buses this morning in Damascus with their families and carrying only light weapons. They would first pass through the Al-Waafideen Crossing on their way to Idlib…. … …
Al-Qaeda is(renamed “Jabat al-Nusra” or “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” in Syria) and always has been an American creature and a criminal instrument of war.
Not to forget who are the so called “militants”, “rebels”, “free fighters” and their protectors, weaponry suppliers, in addition to providing them logistical support and media coverage.
The perfidious role of ‘human rights’ organizations in the war on Syria has been exposed again with the Amnesty International report on Syria for 2017/18, followed by an equally tendentious article in the Melbourne ‘Age’ newspaper by Claire Mallinson, Amnesty’s national director for Australia.
In the name of human rights these organizations have actually worsened the crisis in Syria. They have never dealt honestly with its primary cause, the determination of the US and its allies seven years ago to destroy the government in Damascus, as part of a bigger plan to destroy the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah strategic axis across the Middle East. Democracy, human rights and the best interests of the Syrian people were never on the agenda of these governments. They were cold-blooded and remorseless in what they wanted and the means by which they sought to get it.
By calling violent armed groups ‘rebels’ and ‘the opposition’, these ‘human rights’ organizations conceal their true nature. By calling the Syrian government a ‘regime’, instead of the legitimate government of Syria, representing Syria at the UN and representing the interests of the Syrian people, they seek to demean it. By accusing it of carrying out indiscriminate attacks on its own civilian population, on the basis of what they are being told by their tainted sources, they seek to demonize it. By accusing it of carrying out chemical weapons attacks, without having any proof, they perpetuate the lies and fabrications of the armed groups and the governments that support them.
Behind the mask of ‘human rights’ these organizations are promoting the war agenda of western and regional governments. Some are worse than others. Human Rights Watch might as well be a formal annex of the US State Department, but they all play the same duplicitous game.
White Helmets [Al-Qaeda Media Studios] Producing “Evidence of Assad Regime War Crimes”
(SouthFront 6/3/2018) ~ A pro-government media activist, Penelope Stafyla, has released a series of photos reportedly showing a media studio of the White Helmets, which produces “evidence of Assad regime war crimes” in the Eastern Ghouta region, near the Syrian capital of Damascus.
For example, Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported the alleged incident citing a report by the White Helments (source):
At least 30 people were treated for breathing difficulties after a regime chlorine gas attack in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta, according to a Syrian civil defense agency on Tuesday. Several children and women were among the victims of the attack in Hamuriye town on Monday, the White Helmets said in a statement. The civil defense agency said two of its rescue workers were among the casualties.
(Excerpts from SouthFront) ~ The Syrian Arab Army, the Tiger Forces and their allies have advanced on positions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian Al-Qaeda) and other militant groups in the areas of Harasta, Hawsh Ashari, Bayt Siwwa in the Eastern Ghouta region. Government forces have also entered the area of Rayhan, but have not been able to secure it yet.
Meanwhile, the US-led block, the mainstream media and pro-militant sources are developing their propaganda campaign in an attempt to save militants operating in Eastern Ghouta from defeat accusing government forces of civilian casualties and chemical attacks.
On March 5, the Pentagon announced that Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the area of Afrin had led to an “operational pause” in US-led efforts against ISIS in eastern Syria… … …(read more)… … …
Army units on Tuesday eliminated last gatherings of Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization and the groups affiliated to it in the town of al-Muhamadyia in the Ghouta and continued to hunt down their remnants in the surrounding farms, according to SANA’s delegate to Ghouta.
The Tiger Forces, the Syrian Army, the Republican Guard and their allies have recently liberated a large area in the region from terrorist gangs and now are developing momentum further there. The current goal of the advance is to cut off all key militant supply routes and to besiege their strongholds in urban areas.
A humanitarian aid convoy has entered to the civilians besieged by Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists and other armed groups in the Eastern Ghouta area in Damascus Countryside under the supervision of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC).
A source at SARC organization said that the convoy offered by the United Nations, the SARC and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) included 46 trucks loaded with food materials and relief aid enough for 27,500 people, in addition to medical supplies for up to 70,000 people… … …
[Excerpts from SouthFront, 5/3/2018] ~ Last weekend, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), the Tiger Forces, the 4th Armorued Division and other pro-government units delivered a devastating blow to the defense of militant groups in the eastern part of the Eastern Ghouta region, near Damascus. ~ Government forces liberated al-Shaffoniya, Beit Nayem, al-Rayhanah, al-Muhammadiyah and other points and deployed within about 3.5 km of dividing the militant-held area into two separate parts. ~ Jaish al-Islam, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda in Syria), Ahrar al-Sham and Faylaq al-Rahman were not able to organize an effective defense there. ~ On Monday, government forces advanced further attacking militant positions in the areas of Mersaba and Beit Sawa. ~ Reports are circulating that the 5th Assault Corps and Liwa al-Quds have been also deployed to Eastern Ghotua to support the SAA offensive…(read more)…
[Maram] – This child was injured by the mortar shell attacks that targeted his neighbourhood last week in Damascus. He died today, rest in peace Omar. ~ Obviously you will not see any media and journalist in the West denounce this crime and inspire your emotion: he was just an “Assadist child”.
On March 2, spokesman for the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the opposing sides in Syria Major General Vladimir Zolotukhin said that local activists in the Eastern Ghouta pocket are forming small armed groups to fight militants who are forbidding them from leaving the area.
“There is information that some civic activists are forming small armed groups, planning to break the militants’ blockade and reach areas controlled by the government,” Maj. Gen. Zolotukhin said, according to TASS.
The spokesman for the Russian Center for Reconciliation also announced that two children, a boy and a girl, had been safely evacuated from the Eastern Ghouta pocket on March 2.
Maj. Gen Zolotukhin said that militants had targeted the children on their way out, but the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) had been able to protect them… … …
English Lord David Owen, eminent member of the Upper House of the British Parliament and former head of the Foreign Office, in an interview said that: “Putin saved the World civilization in Syria”.
Forces of the Turkish regime and its mercenaries of the terrorist groups on Friday night targeted Afrin area with all types of weapons, leaving 20 civilians martyred or injured in a new violation of the Security Council’s resolution no. 2401.
Civil sources told SANA that forces of the Turkish regime and the terrorist organizations targeted with a tank shell a car transporting a number of civilians in the village of al-Hujaila as 8 civilians were martyred and 12 others were injured, mostly women and children.
Medical sources at Afrin Hospital said that so far, 175 civilians were killed and more than 450 civilians, most of them children and women, were injured due to the continued assault on civilians’ houses and infrastructure.
The ANHA said that thousands of civilians from the Kurdish-held areas in eastern Syria had been onboard the convoy which was transferring humanitarian aid to people in Afrin. Many civilians had been killed and injured in the Turkish Army shelling on the convoy… … …
The high-precision hypersonic aircraft missile system Kinzhal. The missile flies at a hypersonic speed, 10 times faster than the speed of sound; it can also manoeuvre during all phases of its flight trajectory, which also allows it to overcome anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence systems, delivering nuclear and conventional warheads within a range of over 2,000 kilometres. On December 1, 2017 these systems began their trial service from the airfields of Russia’s Southern Military District.
An intercontinental nuclear unmanned submersible vehicle, which can move at great depths intercontinentally, at a speed multiple times higher than the speed of submarines, cutting-edge torpedoes and all kinds of surface vessels, including some of the fastest. They can carry either conventional or nuclear warheads. An innovative nuclear power unit for this unmanned underwater vehicle completed a test cycle in December 2017.
The strategic hypersonic missile system Avangard – a successfully tested gliding wing unit is capable of intercontinental flight at supersonic speeds in excess of Mach 20. The gliding cruise bloc can travel intercontinental distances and engages in intensive manoeuvring – both lateral and vertical, practically in conditions of plasma formation. The temperature on its surface reaches 1,600–2,000 degrees Celsius.
The revealed weapons have already passed state trials, passed into service and were put on trial combat duty. These systems will be used for two main purposes:
To intercept strategic missiles from a potential aggressor at various altitudes;
To allow the strategic nuclear forces to conduct strikes using aero, aerospace and submersible vehicles. These vehicles will be used to overcome missile defences and to deliver unacceptable damage to the armed forces and infrastructure of the enemy. They can engage various targets right in the hearth of the enemy’s territory, to destroy aircraft groups, coastal fortifications, HQs, possibly a satellites constellation and other targets…. … …
The idea of a nuclear-powered projectile is hardly new. The US tried to develop one as part of Project Pluto in the early 1960s, but abandoned it since strategic missiles with chemical propellants proved to be a more viable alternative. Russia has reportedly made a breakthrough in this technology, becoming the first nation to bring it to maturity.
Putin also said that miniaturization of a nuclear reactor gave Russia another advanced weapons system in the form of a high-endurance underwater drone. The drone can dive “really very deep” and travel between continents at a speed that is several times higher than that of a submarine, a modern torpedo or even a surface ship, he said.
According to the president, such drones can attack enemy aircraft carrier groups, shoreline defenses or infrastructure, and cannot be countered by any defense system in the world. Both conventional and nuclear-tipped versions can be made, he said.
In December 2017, Russia completed the trials of a nuclear reactor which gives the drones such capabilities. The reactor is “100 times smaller” than those used by nuclear-propelled submarines and generates more power, Putin said. It can also reach its peak power 200 times faster than a conventional nuclear power plant.
The video shown for this weapon system didn’t include any actual test, but presumably the claimed miniaturization of a nuclear reactor, which was used for the cruise missile, can also work for a watercraft.
Putin then showcased two variants of a hypersonic weapons systems already developed by Russia. One is an air-launched vehicle that is already deployed in southern Russia for test combat duty. The projectile travels at a speed of Mach-10 and has a range of 2,000km (1,240 miles). The weapon, which is called Kinzhal (“dagger” in Russian) is available in conventional and nuclear forms, Putin said. A video shown to the audience included the moment the weapon was deployed by a fighter jet and the fire from its engine.
Another weapon that is being developed, but which was not shown being tested because its appearance is classified, according to Putin, is a hypersonic glider warhead deployed from space. Russia first tested one back in 2004 and has made significant progress since, the president said. The glider can fly in the atmosphere at speeds of over Mach-20 and can withstand a heat of up to 2,000C (3,632F) generated by air fiction. The system is in series production and is called Avangard (“advance guard” in Russian).
The last weapon system showcased by Putin during his speech was a combat laser, which he said Russia had started to deploy last year. A small video clip showed what presumably is an anti-aircraft laser system, but no test footage was shown.
… “To those who for the last 15 years have been trying to fan an arms race, achieve unilateral advantage against Russia, impose sanctions, which are illegal from the standpoint of international law and are aimed at holding back the development of our country, including in the military area, I have this to say: All the things you were trying to prevent through your policies have already happened. You have failed to hold Russia back,”Putin said.
“You now have to acknowledge this reality, confirm that everything I said is no bluff – which it isn’t – think for some time, send into retirement the people stuck in the past and incapable of looking into the future, [and] stop rocking the boat that we all ride in and which is called planet Earth,”he said. “Russia would be responsive if talked to as an equal partner”, Putin added.
