Russia reveals military spending boost

Concerns have grown over a new bout of East-West confrontation, after Russia unveiled a substantial increase in military spending on Feb. 8 in the wake of the US decision to site parts of its controversial missile defense system in eastern Europe. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov revealed an ambitious plan for a new generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear submarines and possibly a fleet of aircraft carriers. Moscow also intended to revamp its early warning radar system. This major overhaul of Russia's military infrastructure would cost $189 billion over eight years, he said, adding that he wanted to exceed the Soviet army in "combat readiness." The sharp rise in expenditure comes at a time of growing coolness in US-Russian relations. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been incensed by the Bush administration's intention to site missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic. The US says the installations are being built to shoot down possible long-range missiles fired by Iran or North Korea. But Putin has dismissed this claim as ludicrous, and has said the real target of the missile shield is clearly Russia and its vast nuclear arsenal. Analysts said Moscow was worried the defense shield in eastern Europe could turn into a Trojan horse. "This is irritating for Russia," said Yevgeny Miasnikov, a senior research scientist at Moscow's Center for Arms Control. "When the Soviet Union collapsed a vacuum was created in the countries of the former Warsaw bloc. The US has tentatively moved into the vacuum and is creating infrastructure that might threaten Russia. The Bush administration's system is not justified. Iran doesn't have a missile capability yet to hit the US. The logical place to put a defense system would be in Turkey, or in Russia itself." In his speech to Russia's parliament, Ivanov announced that the military would get 17 ballistic missiles this year, compared with an average of four in recent years. The plan envisages the deployment of 34 new silo-based Topol-M missiles and control units, as well as another 50 such missiles mounted on mobile launchers by 2015, he said. Russia has already deployed more than 40 silo-based Topol-M missiles. In 2002, Putin and President Bush signed a treaty obliging both sides to cut strategic nuclear weapons by about two-thirds by 2012. But Russian-US ties have since worsened steadily over disagreements on Iraq and other global crises, and US concerns about an authoritarian streak in Russia's domestic policy. Russian defense analysts point out, however, that defense spending is still well below that of the mid-1980s Soviet Union, and only one-twentieth of the US's current military budget.