Monday, December 01, 2008

Iskander-M leaves Poland and Czech vulnerable to Russian attack

IIPM Publication
The location of deployment and choice of the missile both say much about Russia’s position on this current tussle. During the cold war, Kaliningrad was perceived as the first line of defence against an aggression from the west. Russia condensed its strategic presence in the region post Cold War, but it still has tens of thousands of troops and quite a few key bases there, counting the Chernyakhovsk naval air base as well as the Baltic Fleet's headquarters at Baltiysk.

Named after the greatest conquer of all time, Alexander of Macedon, Iskander-M missile system, or SS-26 as NATO would like to call it, will be Russia’s new armoury in the region. “The deployment of Iskander that has a range of more than 300 miles would equip Russia to mark the entire territory of Poland and also parts of the Czech Republic,” said Anatoly Tsyganok, a military expert at Military Forecast Centre, while talking to TSI from Moscow. Iskander launchers are mounted on an eight-wheeled truck, making them extremely manoeuvrable. The missile’s “variable flight trajectory” means it is tricky to knock down. However, it has not been made clear on the Russian part whether the Iskanders to be deployed in Kaliningrad will have a nuclear payload or not....Continue

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