On Thursday, the Russia Channel has summed up the results of a poll held by the Ministry of Defense for the best names of our new weapon system prototypes. The poll was Putin's idea. The President had announced this idea on March 1st during his speech at the Federal Assembly. I personally suggested a name for one of our missiles—Pepel (Ash). But, the majority of voters have chosen a name of a great Russian monk, the hero of the Battle of Kulikovo, the God of the Sea from Greek mythology, and a proud bird, a symbol of freedom and defiance, which was praised by Maksim Gorky.
Olga Skabeeva reports on the crowdsourced creative process.
Yuri Borisov, the Deputy Minister of Defense of the RF: "I think the names are great, they really fit the types of weapons and what they're used for. So, it's a great tradition, but what's even more important is that upon our Commander-in-Chief's orders, almost 8,000,000 have decided to participate in choosing these names. This means that Russians care about the Russian military, they care about Russia, its combat abilities, and preparedness. This is probably what matters the most. So, I wish a happy birthday to all these new systems. We'll issue the birth certificates today".
For the Russian military, this is the first time that civilians chose the names of weapons. They were literally considering all suggestions. Those that were not appropriate for television, odious, and extremely odd, never made it to the shortlist. Among them were Fingal (Black Eye), Piyavka (Leech), Shashlik (Kebab), Oftalmolog (Optometrist). With 10,000 votes per hour, the Ministry of Defense website was operating at full capacity. The poll that was open to the public was summarized live, on air, by the Deputy of the Defense Department. The poll that took off on March 1st was finished three weeks later.
The majority of suggestions were for the cruise missile with the nuclear power plant; there were over 100,000 ideas, it ended up with the name Burevestnik (Petrel). 748,000 people had voted for this. Surpriz (Surprise) and Palmyra lost after a heated battle.
The Pentagon has their own name for our missile — Unstoppable. It can move in any direction, and it can bypass missile shields. This is exactly why the missile is equipped with a small nuclear power plant. It's where Russian engineers have excelled; missile shield systems basically don't exist now. The closest equivalent to the Burevestnik is the American Tomahawk. The only difference is that the Tomahawk's maximum flight range is 2,500 km. Burevestnik's range is literally unlimited. The cruise missile can be in the air for days on end. This means that there's nothing else like it in the world.
The tests have been successful. The target power output of the nuclear power plant has been officially confirmed. With the presence of the Sarmat intercontinental and the Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic missiles, Russia becomes invincible.
Yuri Borisov: "This is a warning to the world that in modern conditions achieving a unilateral advantage and domination in arms is impossible. To any challenges, new solutions will be created. Technological progress cannot be stopped. However, we haven't stopped there, and the Commander-in-Chief hasn't listed everything in our arsenal."
Presidents Trump and Putin have both agreed that they don't want a new arms race. That was 2 weeks after Russia had presented a new generation of weapons of mass destruction, including the Satana-2 (Satan-2), the new hypersonic intercontinental ballistic missile. Putin had bragged about it being so fast that it can bypass any US missile shield system. He showed a video that demonstrated the capabilities of the Satana-2, where it destroyed a region that resembled Florida. The White House didn't respond.
"What kind of defense do we have from the hypersonic threat?"
John Hyten, US Strategic Command: "It's very complicated, but our defense is our deterrent. There's no defense that can prevent the usage of such weapons against us. So our response will be the TRIAD and our nuclear capabilities, which we can use to respond to such a threat."
Theoretically, the US Strategic Command's John Hyten, who has admitted the Russian Army to be unbeatable, could also have voted for a name for the Russian missiles. The majority of suggestions processed by the Ministry of Defense website were from the CIS. 9% were from the former Soviet Union, 7% were from non-CIS states. Approximately 2/3 of the votes (73%) came from Russia, of course.
The Russian combat laser that can disable an enemy aircraft's guidance and control systems is now called Peresvet. Other options were Blik (Fleck) and Vasilisk (Basilisk). The combat laser complex is more efficient than most missile shields, and its accuracy and precision is higher. The laser is powered by a miniature nuclear system. The ammunition is unlimited. Pentagon has already officially admitted that the Russian combat laser complex has excelled the laser that the US had presented last year. This footage shows how the invisible ray takes down a medium-sized quadcopter. The US tried to keep all of their other developments a secret.
Yuri Borisov: "I'll say that the Americans are also working on new developments. They already have new experimental prototypes that can destroy lightly armored vehicles and cause mass casualties to personnel. Everyone is working in this direction. The only thing is that our personnel in nuclear research centers have a certain head start in this area, which is great".
Curtis Scaparrotti, US-NATO European Command: “Russia is carrying out a campaign of destabilization to change the international order, fracture NATO and undermine U.S. leadership around the world. At sea, on land, and in the air, Russia's increasingly modernized military is operating at levels not seen since the Cold War. So, we need more forces in Europe. I don't think we're in a position that is necessary and required".
Don't be nervous or scared, we're about to submerge underwater, and we'll show you these machines that only look sweet and harmless, but looks can be deceiving. The Poseidon drone submarine The silent drone submarine that SACEUR talks about is called Poseidon. 152,000 people voted for this name on the Ministry of Defense website. It's the fastest unmanned combat submarine in the world that operates at a depth of over 1,000 meters. It can deliver nuclear warheads to any continent. They launch the drones from a submarine. After it's detached, it submerges deeper, hugging the terrain, making hydroacoustic measures powerless against it. It's maneuverable and silent, making the Poseidon impossible to detect and destroy with today's weapons systems. After it's integrated into the Navy, the naval missile shield system might as well be dismantled for parts.
Olga Skabeeva and Artyom Ignatyev, Vesti News of the Week.
