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Russia Wants New Hypersonic Missiles

There's lots of new military goodies on Russia's Christmas list.
​Russian Tochka missiles. Image: ​Wikimedia Commons

​Big announcements last week from both Russian government officials and military scientists, suggests the former Soviet empire is still an arms racing state worth its weight in geopolitical power.

Like in the Cold War era, ballistic missiles are on the minds of Russian military scientists. According to the state news agency (the newly branded "Sputnik" news wire), one state-owned military company is promising the Russian Federation will have much sought-after hypersonic missiles by 2020.

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The 'hypersonic' classification means these missiles will travel, at the very least, five times the speed of sound.

Related: China's New 'Anti-Terror' Drone-Zapping Laser Hints at a Coming Arms Race

"We have approached (hypersonic missiles). We are talking about speeds of up to six to eight Mach. Achieving higher speeds is a long term perspective," said Boris Obnosov, the general director of Tactical Missile Systems Corporation, at an air show in China.

Obnosov also told Sputnik in 2013 that Russia's next generation long-range bomber will also be outfitted with hypersonic missiles and will to deploy with Russian air force fleets in 2023.

If you haven't heard, the Americans and Chinese are already hard at work on their own super-fast missile that will theoretically be able to strike anywhere in the world within an hour.

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Looking a little bit like a winged missile, the smart bombs will essentially be ultra fast rockets tipped with a warhead, able to strike time sensitive targets at unprecedented speeds. Part of the US government's global strike program, the missiles give American forces godlike attack projection, which has peaked the interests of Russian and Chinese officials.

Everyone forgets that the nuclear deterrent is still the core security policy and posture of all the major nuclear powers.

While the world might think the Cold War put an end to warhead politics, things like the Bomb still remain the biggest stick in diplomatic negotiations to date. Rogue states like Iran still want them and North Korea has them (which is why they're not easily trifled with).

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In fact, to Russian officials, stationing ballistic missiles in strategic places still drives foreign policy. As Rob Huebert, a renowned Arctic expert at the University of Calgary once told me, "everyone forgets that the nuclear deterrent is still the core security policy and posture of all the major nuclear powers."

Keeping up with the international Joneses and having your own hypersonic missiles is a critical military capability for Russia. Without them, US or Chinese officials could leverage their more powerful military position, geopolitically, if they get the missiles first. And as tensions mount over the fate of Arctic lands, Russia wants to be on equal footing in any potential international standoff.

Which is likely why Russian military officials also have plans for new Arctic military installations. In a move likely to match nearby American Air Force bases in Alaska, as was originally reported by Sputnik, Russian military officials have earmarked a drone base in the far off Siberian city of Anadyr.

"The main objectives of this UAV detachment will be the provision of safe maritime navigation in the Arctic zone," said Alexander Gordeev a Russian military official. According to one Alaska daily, the US has plans to deploy its own military drones in the northern state.

Besides a budding territorial dispute with Canada that has recently begun to militarize, Russia is keen, like other Arctic nations, to consolidate its northern borders to begin reaping the benefits of climate change: a vast melting Arctic paradise full of oil and gas.

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So far, Russian aggression has been to fly Tu-95 heavy bombers too close to Canadian airspace, testing the interception power of CF-18 fighters deployed by NORAD. A Canadian military official recently told Motherboard that NORAD aircraft last intercepted Russian planes in mid-September.

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Overall, Russia has plans to modernize its military capabilities to match western forces with a rearmament program costing hundreds of billions, set to be mostly complete by 2020—the same year the hypersonic missiles will be available to Russian forces. Putin's plans for new military trinkets comes on the heels of scorned international arms deals between Russia and foreign dealers punishing the former USSR over its intervention in Ukraine.

It's the same reason Putin is suddenly heralding the domestic Russian arms business, as he tightens his state-grip on a corrupt industry in order to make the Eurasian power less dependent on foreign arms.

Of course, Russian state news could be playing to its state overlords and overstating the military prowess of future Russian forces, especially given the significant economic problems facing the old Russian Bear these days.

Then again, those scenes of attack helicopters and Russian tanks in Ukraine earlier this year got one point across: when it comes to new conflicts with the West, Russia really means business—and that might just mean more rubles for drones and super fast missiles.