Russia’s SS-27 Makes Bush’s
Missile Defense A Fantasy
By Charles Assisi
The Times of India
1-15-6
On November 2, a rather staid little story appeared on a ticker powered
by Itar-Tass, a Russian News Agency. The tone was decidedly
Russian-matter-of-fact and shorn of all hyperbole. It reported the test
launch of a ballistic missile called the Topol RS 12 at 8:10 pm Moscow
time. After taking off from the Kapustny Yar test range in the Astrakhan
region, it hit the intended target at Balkhash in Kazakhstan at 8:34-24
minutes later.
“The target was precisely hit,” said the report, quoting a top-ranking
official from the Russian armed forces.
In conclusion, Itar-Tass added some jargon that sounded like regulation
copy to most people tracking defence:
“The advanced Topol missile has three cruise engines and can develop
hypersonic speed. The high thrust-to-weight ratio allows the warhead to
manoeuvre on the trajectory and pass through a dense air defence
system.”
At that time, not many defence analysts thought much of the report.
After all, Kapustny Yar, located on the banks of the Volga river, 75
miles east of Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad), had gone to the dogs and
was infrequently used. Whenever the base was lucky to see some action,
all it witnessed was small payloads.
But what the mainstream media missed was analysed in great detail on
internet discussion boards. For starters, something about the time
mentioned in the report sounded astounding.
For anything to travel from Kapustny to Balkash in 24 minutes, it had to
fly at a speed of three miles a second. That’s 180 miles a minute or
10,800 miles an hour.
If the reports were indeed true, the Topol RS 12 or the Topol SS 27, as
it is known in military circles around the world, had to be the fastest
thing man has ever seen. And if you will for a moment excuse the
breathlessness, it also represented the pinnacle of modern missile
technology. Until this test, the fastest thing known to man was the X43
A. A hypersonic, unmanned plane built by NASA. It flew at 10 times the
speed of sound-almost 7,200 miles per hour.
But the Topol isn’t attracting attention for its speed alone. It has got
more to do with the sheer viciousness it demonstrates. A conventional
intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), once deployed, takes off on
the back of a booster. After attaining a certain altitude, it follows a
set flight path or trajectory. When it reaches the intended target, it
lets loose a set of warheads that home in on the target with devastating
accuracy. Given these dynamics, military establishments build defence
systems that can intercept an ICBM before it strikes. Often, the defence
works.
With the Topol, these dynamics simply don’t come into play. To start
with, the damn thing can be manoeuvred mid-flight. This makes it
practically impossible for any radar system in the world to figure out
what trajectory it will follow.
The other thing is the kind of evasion technology built into the
missile. That makes it invulnerable to any kind of radiation and
electromagnetic and physical interference.
Then there is the question of ground-based nuclear warheads
traditionally deployed to stop ICBMs in their path. Until now, any ICBM
can be taken down by detonating a nuclear warhead from as far as 10
kilometres. The Topol doesn’t blink an eyelid until the time a nuclear
warhead gets as close as 500 meters. But given the Topol’s remarkable
speed and manoeuvrability, getting a warhead that close is practically
impossible.
That leaves defence establishments with only two options. Target the
missile at its most vulnerable points - either when it is on the ground
or when it is just being deployed (also known as the boost phase).
Apparently, the Russians have gotten around that problem, too. Unlike
virtually every ICBM that exists on some military base or the other, the
Topol doesn’t have to be on a static base. All it needs is the back of a
truck. And trucks can be driven anywhere, anytime. That makes it
practically impossible for any country to monitor how many of these
missiles have been deployed and where.
Writes Scott Ritter, a former intelligence officer and weapons inspector
in the Soviet Union and Iraq in the Christian Science Monitor:
“The Bush administration’s dream of a viable NMD has been rendered
fantasy by the Russian test of the SS-27 Topol-M… To counter the SS-27
threat, the US will need to start from scratch.”
But when you’re done marvelling at the technology, sit back for a moment
and consider this. You thought the cold war was over. You thought wrong.
Cold War II has just begun. And the world just became a more dangerous
place.
To recap the SS-27 ‘highlights’…
The Topol SS 27 can be manoeuvred mid-flight. this makes it impossible
for radar systems to figure out its flight path.
It is invulnerable to radiation and electromagnetic and physical
interference.
It can be mounted on the back of a truck, which makes it difficult to
monitor how many of these missiles have been deployed and where.
