The question is, who stole the secrets and how did they do it? According to the Moscow Times, An employee of a "closed" project in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg has been accused of leaking secrets about the intercontinental Bulava missile. This was just reported yesterday. A Sverdlovsk regional court held proceedings against the employee, who is accused of transferring classified information to foreign intelligence relating to the guidance and control systems of the submarine-launched Bulava, according to Soviet law enforcement replies to a Moscow Times inquiry.
Experts in the Urals military-industrial complex said the employee was likely part of the research and production association Automatic, whose experts are directly involved in launching rockets and designing their management systems.
"The evidence proving his guilt is sufficient, though the details of the affair are not being revealed yet because they include state secrets," a law enforcement source said. "What exactly was passed and to which government is so far also not yet released."
This missile is so secretive that the entire court proceedings will be hush-hush and held behind closed doors. The U.S. does know that the Bulava (SS-NX-30) SLBM, developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology (since 1998), is 12-meters long, weighs 36.8 tons (good grief!), carries six to 10 nuclear warheads (MIRV’s), and has a range of over 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles). The three-stage ballistic missile is designed for deployment on Borey-class nuclear submarines. Moscow planned to make the Bulava the cornerstone of its nuclear arsenal.
Incidentally, upon detonation over a target, the Bulava’s atomic blast is 100 times the strength of the atomic explosion that devastated Hiroshima in 1945. Thus far, the missile's development has been plagued by failed launches, with only 10 of its 18 tests considered successful.
It is is an awesome and incredibly frightening weapon! OSINT News found the complete and detailed Timeline of a Bulava Missile Launch during each of its 3-stages in another Russian newspaper...quite eye-opening!
Ironically, although the espionage event came out yesterday, Yuriy Solomonov, the Director and Chief Designer of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology, authored a book about the missile. Solomonov resigned in 2009 after the 11th test failure of the Bulava missile...that he designed! A brilliant man, he previously worked on the Topol-M missile system and has published over 300 scientific works and has over 200 inventions.
Maybe it's time America revisits the Star Wars concept begun during the Reagan years. Last year, we wrote a piece called, WILL IRAN'S NUCLEAR BOMB RENEW STAR WARS? Perhaps even if Iran doesn't develop nuclear weaponry, we should rething Star Wars...with gusto.
Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S. is a member of the Association Of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and writes about the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). A portion (10%) of this site's ad revenues is donated to the AFIO. The views expressed on this site do not represent those of any organization he is a member of. We're always looking for different perspectives regarding the Intelligence Community- got a thought, article or comment you'd like to submit? Contact us on the Secure Contact Form
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