MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia is developing a new type of military operations with the use of nuclear weapons to defend itself against possible US aggression, according to Russian military magazine, published by the Defense Ministry.
According to the magazine, the United States is gradually losing its leading position in the world. As a result, the aggressiveness of the US military and political course towards Russia is growing, since Russia is named the main culprit for the loss of American global domination. The authors point out that the US apparently plans to defeat Russia in the form of a "strategic (global) multi-domain operation."
As part of this operation, the magazine says, the Pentagon plans destruction of at least 65-70% of Russian strategic nuclear forces with a conventional Prompt Global Strike, neutralization of the remaining and launched Russian nuclear delivery vehicles with a global missile defense system and then inflicting the minimum sufficient nuclear strike on Russia in order to destroy it.
Prompt Global Strike (PGS) is a United States military effort to develop a system that can deliver a precision conventional weapon strike anywhere in the world within one hour, in a similar manner to a nuclear ICBM.
In April 2010, Marine Corps General James Cartwright explained the system's rationale, stating that "Today, unless you want to go nuclear, [the conventional military response time is] measured in days, maybe weeks". A PGS system could also be useful during a nuclear conflict, potentially replacing nuclear weapons against 30 percent of targets.
The PGS program encompasses numerous technologies, including conventional surface-launched rockets and air-launched hypersonic missiles, although no specific PGS system has yet been finalized.