President Vladimir Putin has stated that Russia plans to station tactical nuclear weapons
in neighboring Belarus.
Putin told state broadcaster Russia 1, Moscow will complete the construction of a special
storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus by the beginning of July.
Belarus which is located west of Russia and shares a long northern border with Ukraine,
is considered one of Moscow's closest allies.
In February 2022, it played a significant role in helping Russia launch its initial
invasion of Ukraine by allowing Kremlin troops to enter the country from the north.
Since the early 1990s, Belarus has not possessed any nuclear weapons on its territory.
After gaining independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the country agreed to
transfer all Soviet-era weapons of mass destruction stationed within its borders to Russia.
It is also important to note that Iskander-M system has been sent to the country in Dec
which can be used as delivery medium.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why the Russian transfer of tactical nuke-armed
Iskander-M in Belarus is a big escalation?
Let's get into the details.
A tactical nuclear weapon (TNW) or non-strategic nuclear weapon (NSNW) is a nuclear weapon
that is designed to be used on a battlefield in military situations, mostly with friendly
forces in proximity and perhaps even on contested friendly territory.
Generally smaller in explosive power, they are defined in contrast to strategic nuclear
weapons, which are designed mostly to be targeted at the enemy interior far away from the war
front against military bases, cities, towns, arms industries, and other hardened or larger-area
targets to damage the enemy's ability to wage war.
No tactical nuclear weapon has ever been used in a combat situation.
Tactical nuclear weapons include gravity bombs, short-range missiles, artillery shells, land
mines, depth charges, and torpedoes which are equipped with nuclear warheads.
Also, in this category are nuclear-armed ground-based or shipborne surface-to-air missiles.
The Iskander M is a mobile short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile system produced and deployed
by Russia.
The missile systems have been replacing the obsolete OTR-21 Tochka systems.
Iskander M is a tactical missile system, designed to be used in theater-level conflicts.
The system is very versatile.
It is intended to use conventional or nuclear warheads for the engagement of small and area
targets (both moving and stationary), such as hostile fire weapons, air and antimissile
defense weapons, command posts and communications nodes, and troops in concentration areas,
among others.
The system can therefore destroy both active military units and targets to degrade the
enemy's war fighting capacity.
Iskander-M system is equipped with 2 solid-propellant single-stage guided missiles, model 9M723K1.
Each one is controlled throughout the entire flight path and fitted with an inseparable
warhead.
Each missile in the launch carrier vehicle can be independently targeted in a matter
of seconds.
The mobility of the Iskander launch platform makes a launch difficult to prevent.
Targets can be located not only by satellite and aircraft but also by a conventional intelligence
center, by an artillery observer, or from aerial photos scanned into a computer.
The missiles can be re-targeted during a flight in the case of engaging mobile targets.
Another unique feature of Iskander-M is the optically guided warhead, which can also be
controlled by encrypted radio transmission, including such as those from AWACS or UAV.
The Russian Iskander-M travels at a hypersonic speed of 2100–2600 m/s (Mach 6–7) at a
height of 50 km or about 31 miles.
The Iskander-M carries a warhead of 800 kg or about 1760 lbs and has a range of 500 km
or 310 miles.
The missile has a circular error probable (CEP) of 5–7 meters.
Iskander-M is unique because of the missile's ability to overcome missile defenses.
It is rumored that during flight it can maneuver at different altitudes and trajectories and
can turn at up to 20 to 30 G to evade anti-ballistic missiles.
Iskander-M with conventional warhead have already been used against Ukraine
Putin insisted the move was the same “as the United States has been doing for decades”.
He said, "We agreed that we will do the same - without violating our obligations, I emphasize,
without violating our international obligations on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons,”
He likened the move to Washington’s practice of stationing nuclear weapons in Europe like
in Germany.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry responded to Western criticism by pointing out that Washington
and its allies had ignored repeated Russian calls for the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons
from Europe.
The ministry reaffirmed Moscow’s right to take “the necessary additional steps to
ensure the security of Russia and its allies”.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said., “The world must be united against someone who endangers
the future of human civilization”
The US State Department stated that it would “continue to monitor the implications”
NATO rejected Putin’s claim that Russia only is doing what the US has done for decades,
saying that Western allies act with full respect for their international commitments.
While the conflict in Ukraine has been going on without any end in sight, recent events
have made things more complex.
Russia is sending tactical nuke-armed Iskander-M after Britain decide to send depleted Uranium
shells to the Ukrainian armed forces.
Viewers can check the video on the above card to know more about it.
The Mach 7 Iskander M missile takes only about 3.5 min to cover its full range of 500 km
or 310 miles.
Depending on the part of Belarus from which it is launched, it can hit almost any location
in countries like Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine and these countries will
have very limited times to react.
Given the fact that the missile’s characteristics make it hard if not impossible to intercept,
it can be stated that there is a very minuscule chance that an Iskander-M barrage with 6-8
missiles could be defended against.
So, it is evident that Europe is now much closer to a nuclear reality.