by Michael Snyder

Though battle has erupted in Ukraine, most Individuals nonetheless don’t consider {that a} nuclear battle with Russia is a severe risk.  The Chilly Warfare doctrine of “mutually assured destruction” has been pounded into our heads so many instances that most individuals merely assume that it could be unthinkable for both facet to aim a nuclear strike.  Which will have been true within the Eighties, however issues have modified dramatically since that point.  The Russians have developed some extraordinarily spectacular weapons and anti-missile techniques for the reason that finish of the Chilly Warfare, however most Individuals don’t even know that they exist.

Let’s begin with the RS-28 Sarmat.  Whereas the U.S. nonetheless depends on hopelessly outdated Minuteman III missiles that first went into service in 1970, the Russians have developed probably the most superior intercontinental ballistic missiles on your entire planet…

The RS-28, generally often called the “Devil II,” has been in growth since 2014, and was famously described as “able to wiping out components of the earth the scale of Texas or France,” by Russia’s state-owned media. The missile has a spread of 6,385 miles and carries a warhead jam-packed with A number of Impartial Reentry Autos (MIRV) that boast a mixed damaging yield of fifty megatons. In different phrases, the RS-28 Sarmat carries a damaging yield better than 35 instances that of the Minuteman III.

America’s strongest nuclear bomb in service, the B83, additionally boasts only a 1.2 megaton yield, and even probably the most highly effective nuclear weapon in American historical past, the 9 megaton B53, rings in at lower than 1/5 the yield of the mighty Sarmat.

The U.S. army has no technique to defend in opposition to the Sarmat.

The Russians have additionally developed a really alarming line of hypersonic missiles that we now have no technique to defend in opposition to.  In actual fact, the Russians just released footage of the Zircon hypersonic nuclear missile which might journey at speeds of as much as 7,000 miles per hour.

In the meantime, the U.S. is means behind each the Russians and the Chinese language relating to growing hypersonic missiles.

But when the Russians had been to hit the U.S. with a shock first strike, they’d most likely make the most of their “black gap submarines”…

The mainstay of the Russian Navy’s conventionally powered fleet are Venture 877–class submarines, often called the Kilo class to NATO and the West. Nicknamed the “Black Gap” submarine by the U.S. Navy, the Improved Kilos are extraordinarily quiet. The category has been constructed roughly constantly for thirty years, a testomony to their effectiveness at sea.

These “black gap submarines” had been designed to be as quiet as potential, and that makes them supreme for a sneak assault…

Lots of silencing went into the Kilos. The hull is described as having the approximate form of a drop of water and drastically lowering water resistance over older, World Warfare II–period submarine designs. The propulsion plant is remoted on a rubber base so it doesn’t contact the hull, stopping vibrations from turning into noise that may be heard exterior the boat. The ship has a rubbery anechoic coating to deaden noise emanating from the submarine, which often provides the submarines a blocky look noticeable in images. The air regeneration system can hold the crew equipped with oxygen for as much as 260 hours, giving the ship nearly two weeks’ price of underwater endurance.

These submarines have the power to sneak as much as our coastlines with out us even realizing that they’re there.

And as soon as they launch their missiles, we might solely have a number of moments to reply.

As terrifying as that sounds, many specialists are much more involved a few submarine-launched weapon often called “Poseidon”…

In contrast to the submarine-launched nuclear missiles each Russia and the USA preserve as part of their nuclear triads, the Standing-6 (generally known as “Poseidon” or by its NATO designation of “Kanyon”) is definitely a submersible drone. As soon as deployed by a Russian Navy submarine, the drone can journey autonomously towards its goal, protecting greater than 5,400 miles at depths as little as 3,300 ft. As soon as it finds its goal, the Standing-6 merely parks and waits for the command to detonate.

We’d by no means see the Poseidon coming.

Theoretically, the Russians may deploy Poseidons to all of our main coastal cities and detonate all of them concurrently.

Simply take a number of moments to consider what that may imply.

And it has been reported that some Russian officers have stated that the Poseidon “might be outfitted with a 100 megaton weapon”…

Onboard this submersible drone is a completely large warhead–with some claims saying it carries the identical nuclear yield because the RS-28, and others claiming twice that. Based on some Russian officers, the Standing-6 might be outfitted with a 100 megaton weapon… which is 2 instances extra highly effective than the biggest nuclear weapon ever even examined.

A detonation of that magnitude wouldn’t solely destroy and irradiate an enormous space, its positioning underneath water would lead to a radioactive tsunami that may attain far additional inland than the blast itself. In no unsure phrases, the Standing-6 is meant to function a doomsday weapon. It’s the kind of weapon you construct to not win wars, however to finish them.

Such a weapon may destroy New York Metropolis within the blink of an eye fixed.

However all of those offensive weapons received’t do the Russians a lot good if they will’t defend in opposition to our missiles.

Sadly for us, the Russians have developed probably the most superior anti-missile techniques on the earth.  The S-400 and the A-135 are vastly superior to something that we now have, and now the extraordinarily refined S-500 is being put into service…

The S-500 is designed for intercepting and destroying intercontinental ballistic missiles, in addition to hypersonic cruise missiles and plane, for air protection in opposition to Airborne Early Warning and Management and for jamming plane.^{[citation needed]} With a deliberate vary of 600 km (370 mi) for anti-ballistic missile (ABM) and 500 km (310 mi) for air protection,^[22] the S-500 would be capable to detect and concurrently interact as much as 10 ballistic hypersonic targets flying at a velocity of 5 kilometres per second (3.1 mi/s)^[23][24] to a restrict of seven km/s (4.3 mi/s).^[25][26] It additionally goals at destroying hypersonic cruise missiles and different aerial targets at speeds of upper than Mach 5, in addition to spacecraft.^{[citation needed]} The altitude of a goal engaged might be as excessive as 180–200 km (110–120 mi).^{[citation needed]} It’s efficient in opposition to ballistic missiles with a launch vary of three,500 km (2,200 mi), the radar reaches a radius of three,000 km (1,300 km for the EPR 0,1 sq. meter).^[27][28] Different targets it has been introduced to defend in opposition to embody: unmanned aerial automobiles, low Earth orbit satellites, and area weapons launched from hypersonic plane, and hypersonic orbital platforms.^[29]

If Russia had been to launch a nuclear assault in opposition to us, we might undoubtedly be destroyed.

However most Individuals don’t understand that the Russians now have techniques which were particularly designed to deal with no matter we’d throw at them.

In different phrases, the stability of energy has shifted.

However most of our leaders proceed to mock the concept that the Russians are a risk to us.  For instance, simply take into account these latest feedback from U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham…

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., echoed Risch’s sentiment that the battle won’t escalate to probably the most dire scenario.

“Nicely it’s not going to be World Warfare III – that is all a bluff,” Graham stated throughout an look on “Sunday Morning Futures.” “Putin is aware of that nobody wins a nuclear alternate. If he ordered a strike on the USA, a common would shoot him within the head.”

It’s this kind of pondering that might ultimately get all of us killed.

Indisputably, I consider that the Russians don’t really desire a nuclear battle.

However the Russians have been making ready for one for a number of a long time.

And when that day lastly arrives, it received’t be the U.S. that has the higher hand.