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A new serious irritating factor may emerge in Russian-U.S. relations

This factor is the Prompt Global Strike (PGS) system, which the Pentagon is developing

December 12. /ITAR-TASS/. A new serious irritating factor may emerge in Russian-U.S. relations. This factor is the Prompt Global Strike (PGS) system, which the Pentagon is developing. The PGS system permits to hit the target with the high accuracy in a remote point in the world in less than an hour after launching it. Moscow is seriously concerned over the prospect of putting this military system into service, Kommersant daily reported. Experts are convinced that the measures of confidence in this sphere should be taken right now, otherwise, there will be no progress in the relations between Russia and the United States for further disarmament and a new spiral of arms race will begin with potentially catastrophic consequences.

The Pentagon has been working on the PGS system (or non-nuclear Prompt Global Strike) already for several years, but Russia and the United States began to raise this issue at the talks only recently more and more frequently. This issue is taking a shape of a new serious irritating factor in their relations, the daily noted.

In June Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin warned that Russia may “oversleep a new revolution” that is indicated by the creation of high precision weapons that can replace the weapons of mass destruction. Russia is developing a response to the U.S. PGS system, he pledged in the State Duma lower house of Russian parliament on Wednesday.

U.S. President Barack Obama mentioned the PGS concept in his April address to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, attributing it to the aspects of strategic stability. Russia and the U.S. do not maintain true cooperation over this issue.

One of effective ways to reduce the risks would be to take into account the PGS system in the drafting of a future Russian-U.S. treaty on arms control, senior associate in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment James M. Acton, who is the author of the book “Silver bullet? Asking the right questions about Conventional Prompt Global Strike”. But this is obviously the question of the far future.

Senior vice-president of the PIR-centre Yevgeny Buzhinsky told the Kommersant daily that Moscow had proposed similar measures to Washington some time ago (in particular, preliminary notifications were in question). “But the U.S. refused from them then,” the expert said.

In this situation Russia is taking some steps to create its own supersonic high precision weapons. In late November Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting over “the implementation of the program for the development and serial production of long-range high precision weapons.” “High precision weapons are turning in a more important factor of non-nuclear deterrence, probably, even one of the most significant factors,” the president said. “In fact, high precision weapons are turning in the alternative to nuclear weapons today,” the Russian president said.

“The U.S. may create this weapon some day in 2017-2018. But we will have prepared our response by this moment of time,” Russian Deputy Defence Minister Yuri Borisov told the daily.

 

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