Hint: You don’t need to worry that much.
By Alex Ward@AlexWardVoxalex.ward@vox.
A cruise missile, powered by nuclear technology, that can reach the United States. Nuclear weapons that can evade any missile defense system. Unstoppable drone submarines that can be used to blow up foreign ports.
Those are the weapons Russian President Vladimir Putin claims he now has. If true, Putin has purposefully raised the stakes in the decades-long nuclear standoff between Washington and Moscow — threatening to worsen deteriorating ties between Russia and the West.
Putin spent much of his annual state of the nation speech on Thursday talking about Russia’s improving weapons arsenal. He even went so far as to show a video of nuclear missiles striking Florida.
Experts say the most impressive new weapon he revealed is a nuclear-powered cruise missile that can hit any point on Earth. (That’s big: conventional cruise missiles rarely travel more than 600 miles.) This kind of weapon moves so quickly and flies so low to the ground that it could evade US and European missile defense systems and hit intended targets with a nuclear weapon. Putin said this new technology renders American missile defense “useless,” but US officials still say it needs further testing and is not yet operational.
The Defense Department sees it differently. “We’re not surprised by [Putin’s] statements,” top Pentagon spokesperson Dana White told reporters on Thursday, “and the American people should rest assured that we are fully prepared.”
Putin framed the two-hour address as a show of Russian might and defiance against efforts by the West — particularly the United States and NATO — to push back on Moscow. “You have failed to contain Russia,” he said.
But the bellicose language comes at a peculiar time: Russia’s presidential elections are on March 18, just 17 days away. Putin is likely to win a fourth term due to a rigged vote, meaning he could rule Russia until at least 2024. Ahead of the planned victory, he wants to prove to the Russian people he remains fit to lead after nearly 20 years in power, experts say.
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