The past several years have seen Washington partially losing its ability to develop nuclear warheads, Dmitry Stefanovich of the Moscow-based Institute of World Economy and International Relations with the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Sputnik.
The US has test-launched the unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from the Vanderberg Space Force Base in California, its press office said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the US Air Force Global Strike Command, the goal of the test launch was to validate and verify the safety, effectiveness and readiness of the country’s nuclear weapons system.
"The Minuteman III is a rather antiquated ICBM and it certainly yields to the Russian-made Yars ballistic missile in terms of characteristics," Dmitry Stefanovich said.
When asked why Washington had decided to test-launch the moth-balled ICBM, the Russian expert noted that the US has repeatedly dragged its feet on the process of fully-fledged modernization and renewal of its nuclear triad, which includes land-launched nuclear missiles, nuclear-armed submarines, and strategic aircraft with nuclear bombs.
“Namely, the US was not particularly interested in developing nuclear weapons after the end of the last Cold War, and before the start of a new one. Now, of course, this is again an extremely urgent issue [for Washington], who recently rolled out a new heavy bomber. Work is also underway to build a new submarine fitted with ballistic missiles and the Sentinel, [the Minuteman III’s successor],” Stefanovich said.
He added that one can also notice that the US had lost "some part of so-called expertise both in the field of creating nuclear warheads and technologies for the production of components for them."
Initially deployed back in 1970, the Minuteman III was fitted with several smaller warheads intended to destroy Soviet Union military facilities in the event of a nuclear exchange between the two countries......more below
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230906/minuteman-iii-launch-us-losing-expertize-on-nuclear-triad-upgrades-1113152235.html
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Xi made the remarks in his speech at the second China-Central Asia Summit in the Kazakh capital of Astana.
Xi said that the Chinese side has decided to establish three cooperation centers and a trade facilitation platform within the China-Central Asia cooperation mechanism.
When addressing the summit, Xi said these institutions include the China-Central Asia poverty reduction cooperation center, the China-Central Asia education exchange cooperation center, the China-Central Asia desertification control cooperation center, as well as the China-Central Asia trade facilitation cooperation....more below
