RF Deputy Defense Minister Claims NATO ABMS Drill in NE Atlantic Aimed at Russia

[ArmyATC]

RF Deputy Defense Minister Claims NATO ABMS Drill in NE Atlantic Aimed at Russia

Old Cold War tensions are heating up with Russia over a US – NATO military exercise in the Atlantic Ocean. Six nations, alongside the United States will take part in “At Sea Demonstration-2015″ the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Italy and France.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov raised concerns for the drills telling reporters, “The drills will be conducted in the northeastern part of the Atlantic, and this can signal only that there are plans to practice intercepting Russian ballistic missiles. Such drills cannot but concern us…”

Antonov’s concerns come just a day after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke about Crimea at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C and declared Russia a threat to European security:

While “At-Sea Demonstration 2015″ is scheduled for the fall – NATO forces have been amplifying their own live fire exercises in Eastern Europe. In fact – they just completed the largest military mobilization with Estonian forces since the conclusion of World War II during Operation Hedgehog – 13,000 soldiers participated in that exercise.

One day after NATO declares Russia a threat to Europe, Russian Deputy Defense Minister cries foul on At Sea Demonstration 2015. It is a relatively provocative move, and will surely cause heightened nuclear alert level (not necessarily DEFCON, but internally). But Russia will counter with its own nuclear drills in sequence.

Seems NATO will be practicing mid-stage interception. This would be a new development that cannot be attributed to the old story of 'the ABMS is for rogue nuclear threats to Europe.' Could signal the beginning of phase 3 implementation. Worth watching.

http://investmentwatchblog.com/war-alert-antiballistic-missile-drill-triggers-russian-response/

 

[ArmyATC]

Confirm mid stage intercept. Definately for long range ICBMs. Russia has a valid point.

The exercise will allow NATO forces to practice joint air defense drills and test antiballistic missile defenses, using the U.S.-built Raytheon SM-3 missile interceptor, a missile designed to hit ballistic missiles and destroy them while they are still in space.

if successful, this is definitely the implementation of phase 3. This means NATO is pushing ahead with escalating ABMS strategy.

http://www.ibtimes.com/russia-voices-concerns-over-us-led-nato-ballistic-missile-interception-drills-1943997

 

[JohnStone]

There's been some concerns as to whether or not the ABMS's actually work.

 

[AlbertGrand]

Are the Russians trawling through the internet looking for stuff to complain about? I put 'At Sea Demonstration 2015' into Google and got a piece from Jane's Defence News going back to JANUARY.

http://www.janes.com/article/48106/surface-navy-2015-mtmd-forum-set-for-at-sea-interoperability-demonstration

So it isn't a sudden development, yet the Russians are suddenly getting upset about it. Admittedly, there was a lot going on in Ukraine in January, so most of us would have missed this announcement I imagine, yet still... it seems the Russians want to time their righteous indignation to follow every NATO pronouncement. Still no sign of rhetoric de-escalation.