Putin signs Russia’s nuclear deterrent policy
President Vladimir Putin on June 2 endorsed Russia’s nuclear deterrent policy which allows him to use atomic weapons in response to a conventional strike targeting the nation’s critical government and military infrastructure.
By including a non-nuclear attack as a possible trigger for Russian nuclear retaliation, the document appears to send a warning signal to the United States. The new expanded wording reflects Russian concerns about the development of prospective weapons that could give Washington the capability to knock out key military assets and government facilities without resorting to atomic weapons.
In line with Russian military doctrine, the new document reaffirms that the country could use nuclear weapons in response to a nuclear attack or an aggression involving conventional weapons that “threatens the very existence of the state.”
But the policy document now also offers a detailed description of situations that could trigger the use of nuclear weapons. They include the use of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction against Russia or its allies and an enemy attack with conventional weapons that threatens the country’s existence.
In addition to that, the document now states that Russia could use its nuclear arsenals if it gets “reliable information” about the launch of ballistic missiles targeting its territory or its allies and also in the case of “enemy impact on critically important government or military facilities of the Russian Federation, the incapacitation of which could result in the failure of retaliatory action of nuclear forces.”
U.S.-Russia relations are at post-Cold War lows over the Ukrainian crisis, the accusations of Russian meddling in the U.S. 2016 presidential election and other differences. AP
Russian general chafes at “provocative” NATO drills
The Russian military on June 1 accused the U.S. and its NATO allies of conducting “provocative” military drills near the nation’s borders, a statement that reflected simmering Russia-NATO tensions.
Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian General Staff said Russia has sent a formal letter to NATO proposing to scale down each other’s military activities for the period of the coronavirus outbreak, but the alliance has stonewalled the offer.
Rudskoi particularly mentioned recent NATO maneuvers in the Barents Sea, charging that they emulated strikes on Russian territory and the intercept of Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles. Rudskoi said the drills were the first of the kind by NATO since the Cold War.
Rudskoi also pointed at an increased number of flights by U.S. nuclear-capable strategic bombers near Russia’s frontiers last month. He said U.S. B-1B strategic bombers last week flew over Ukraine for the first time ever, prompting Russia to scramble fighter jets and put air defense forces on alert.
Russia-West relations have sunk to post-Cold War lows after the 2014 Russian annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and Moscow’s support for a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow has repeatedly voiced concern over the deployment of NATO forces near Russian borders, describing it as a threat to its security. Russia and the alliance also have blamed each other for conducting destabilizing military exercises near the borders.
“The U.S. and its allies are continuing to destroy Europe’s security system under the guise of a perceived ‘Russian aggression,’” Rudskoi said.
He said that despite NATO’s refusal to agree on reduction of military activities, Russia has decided not to conduct any big drills near the borders with NATO members this year. AP
Safety board asks helicopter makers to install ‘black boxes’
Federal safety investigators bypassed aviation regulators on June 2 and urged leading helicopter manufacturers to install so-called black boxes that would help determine the cause of crashes such as the one that killed former NBA star Kobe Bryant.
The National Transportation Safety Board appealed directly to six manufacturers after the Federal Aviation Administration failed to act on the board’s recommendations to require the devices on most helicopters. The safety board said turbine-powered helicopters should record data, audio and images during flight.
The NTSB identified seven crash investigations between 2011 and 2017 in which it said the lack of recorder information slowed its ability to find potential safety issues.
“The more information we have, the better we can understand not only the circumstances of a crash, but what can be done to prevent future accidents,” said Dana Schulze, director of aviation safety for the NTSB.
The NTSB’s move is highly unusual. The board investigates accidents but has no authority to make regulations; that falls to the FAA. The board said it recommended flight-data and cockpit-voice recorders in 2013 and 2015, but the FAA did not act. The request for image-recording capability is new.
The FAA did not immediately comment on the NTSB’s announcement. In 2016, then-FAA Administrator Michael Huerta agreed that crash-resistant recorder systems provide additional information about the actions of helicopters and crews but said the agency would not require them because it couldn’t calculate a cost-benefit ratio.
“In today’s rulemaking environment, we have no way of estimating the number of lives that could be saved or the number of future accidents that could be prevented with the use of this additional data,” Huerta told the NTSB. He said the FAA decided instead to encourage manufacturers to add more recorders to their aircraft, and some do.
The NTSB made its request June 2 to Sikorsky, Airbus Helicopters, Bell, Leonardo, MD Helicopters and Robinson. AP
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