INF Treaty - coming to the end of its life

US Can Respond to Russia on INF With Missiles - Ex-Pentagon Official

Daniel Gouré claimed that another response might be deployment of aerial detection systems in Europe capable to detect and track missiles, manned and unmanned aircraft up to 340 miles away. Washington accuses Moscow of alleged breaches of the INF Treaty.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States is capable to respond to alleged Russia’s Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty violations by deploying new sea-based ballistic missiles, placing aerial detection systems in Europe, or selling advanced drones to allies, former Pentagon official told Sputnik.

“First thing I would do on the offensive side, it’s just going to be a 500 km [range], may be even sea-based missile,” former director of the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Competitiveness Daniel Gouré told Sputnik. “If you really want to get ugly about it, it would be a missile capable of being deployed… on the next batch of Virginia class attack submarines.”

The United States could build an “INF compliant” missile, "bigger than torpedo tube, bigger than Tomahawks," Gouré added.

“And now I can put it in the North Sea, I can put it in the Arctic, if I was dealing with the Russians, I can even put it on a modified surface ship in the Black Sea,” he said.

The Missile Defense Agency's test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD). The Ground-Based Interceptor launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. on June 22, 2014.

Beginning in July 2014, Washington accused Moscow of violating the INF treaty by testing a prohibited cruise missile. Russia has denied the allegation pointing, in turn, to US violations of the agreement that bans nuclear and conventional ground-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 310-3417 miles (500-5500 kilometers).

Gouré claimed that another response might be deployment of aerial detection systems in Europe capable to detect and track missiles, manned and unmanned aircraft up to 340 miles away.

“In fact, you can start with sensors, you don’t even have to start with weapons,” he said. “Take the JLENS [Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System], send it to Europe, just send it to Europe and deploy it.”

JLENS, currently being tested at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in northeast Maryland, is a system of two aerostats that float 10,000 feet in the air. The helium-filled aerostats, each nearly as long as a football field, carry powerful radars, according to the system developer Raytheon.

Additionally, the United States could begin sales of drones to its NATO allies following the US government's ruling last week that allows the sale of armed drones to foreign governments, Gouré asserted.

“With the new ruling, how about selling advanced drones, big ones, and the sensor packages to allies,” he said.

The United States military and defense industry have on the shelf technology “to do all kinds of nasty things that would unnerve them [the Russians] without ever having to violate the [INF] Treaty,” the former official concluded.

During testimony to the US Senate in early February, newly appointed Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter raised the possibility of pursuing military measures to respond to Russia’s alleged development of a ground-launched cruise missile that is not compliant with the arms control treaty.

On Friday, a US House Armed Services committee staffer told Sputnik that Congress would actively consider Pentagon recommendations for a possible military response to Russia’s alleged violations of the INF.

The United States and the Soviet Union signed the INF Treaty in 1987.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/military/20150227/1018825108.html#ixzz3SwFporJg

Tensions over intermediate nuclear force treaty high — Russian foreign ministry

MOSCOW, 11 March. /TASS/. The intermediate nuclear force (INF) Soviet-US treaty of 1987 that outlawed the intermediate and shorter range missiles is not falling apart yet, but tensions over it are soaring high, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s non-proliferation and arms control department, Mikhail Ulyanov, told a news conference on Wednesday.

"Some actions by our US colleagues cause great surprise. At a meeting with a US delegation in Moscow on the issue US delegates did explain what particularly they do not like - in their scheme of things we are expected to say voluntarily what we have violated and to confess violations," Ulyanov said. "This kind of approach does not look serious to us."

"At the same time we have at least three questions about US compliance with the treaty. I cannot say that the replies the Americans offered satisfied us," the diplomat said.

"The discussion with the United States on this subject will go on. Its outcome is anyone’s guess but at this point it would be wrong to say that the treaty is falling apart," Ulyanov concluded.

US actions jeopardize nuclear disarmament process

Ulyanov said that US actions undermine the global strategic stability and make further steps towards nuclear disarmament problematic.

He reminded that the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty signed in 2010 envisaged a reduction in the nuclear potentials of Russia and the United States, adding that "there was no doubt that both countries would accomplish the task".

Ulyanov added that Washington’s current actions, specifically, the deployment of anti-ballistic missile system in Europe and development of high-precision strategic non-nuclear weapons brought into question further steps towards nuclear disarmament.

"In such circumstances, the continuation of the nuclear disarmament process seems problematic", he said.

"This is a question that should be posed to the United States", Ulyanov said, adding that Russia’s focus was on creating the necessary conditions for disarmament.

US says ready to continue dialogue with Russia on INF treaty

Washington has started suspecting that Moscow is violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, a US official told a TASS correspondent at the Carnegie International Nuclear Policy

WASHINGTON, March 24. /TASS/. Under-Secretary for Arms Control and International Security at the US Department of State Rose Gottemoeller has said Washington is ready to continue the dialogue with Moscow on the observance of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).

Gottemoeller told a TASS correspondent at the Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference in Washington, DC on Monday that the United States seeks to settle the issues related to the treaty, which was signed in 1987.

The diplomat said the goal is to find a mutually acceptable solution to the issues which Washington raised during the consultations with the Russian government. She said the discussions on the issue are ongoing.

Washington has recently started suspecting that Moscow is violating the INF treaty, the US official said. According to the US, Russia is developing a new cruise missile which is banned under the treaty.

The Russian officials say that the US itself violates the treaty. In February, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the US actions "are in conflict with the spirit and the letter of this document." For instance, the minister said armed drones widely used by the US fall within the treaty’s definition of intermediate-range cruise land-based missiles.

"The treaty directly prohibits ABM launchers, which will soon be deployed in Romania and Poland, because they can be used to launch intermediate-range cruise missiles," the minister said.

"While refusing to acknowledge these facts, our US colleagues assert they have some "substantiated" claims against Russia with respect to the INF Treaty, but diligently avoid specifics," he said.

In comments to Moscow’s accusations, Gottemoeller said that in her opinion the Russian colleagues had been provided with "substantial information" on the issue. She also confirmed the US readiness to continue talks in an effort to solve the dispute related to the INF treaty.