From:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_smith_news/20000822_xnsof_russian_mi.sh
tml

Russian missile scandal prompts Hill 'outrage'

Congressman demands 'a full official inquiry' of 'unbelievable'
weapons deal

----

By Charles Smith
� 2000 WorldNetDaily.com


WorldNetDaily has learned the Clinton administration is currently
trying to buy advanced missiles from Russia, while documents
recently released by the U.S. Navy show that Russia offered to
sell the same missiles to the Clinton administration back in
1995.

Earlier this month, the Navy released documents showing the
Clinton administration declined a 1995 offer from Russia to
purchase the advanced SS-N-22 (NATO code-named Sunburn)
supersonic cruise missile and studied offers as early as 1993.
The documents were obtained from the Clinton administration using
the Freedom of Information Act.

The newly released documents are already causing a firestorm on
Capitol Hill, threatening to start an investigation on a scale
similar to the one that resulted in the Cox Committee Report.

"Outrageous," responded Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., in an exclusive
WorldNetDaily interview. "This is outrageous. I am going to
demand a full official inquiry into the way this was handled."
Weldon is a ranking member of the House National Security
Committee and Chairman of the Military Research and Development
Subcommittee. He was provided with a copy of the U.S. Navy
documents for the interview.

"This is simply unbelievable," Weldon reiterated. "The Sunburn is
the greatest threat today against the U.S. Navy."

Weldon, who currently oversees key U.S. military weapons
programs, is outraged because the Clinton administration failed
to take advantage of the 1995 offer by Russia to sell as many as
100 Sunburn missiles to the U.S. Navy. The administration instead
selected Boeing/McDonnell Douglas and Russian defense contractor
Zvezda to provide the U.S. Navy with a smaller supersonic cruise
missile, NATO code-named Krypton. However, the 1,100-pound
Krypton was unable to match the performance of the much larger
Sunburn, which weighs nearly 8,000 pounds.

WorldNetDaily reported Monday that U.S. and Russian weapons
engineers worked together to improve the Russian Krypton in an
effort to win a U.S. Navy target missile contract.

"Any U.S. Navy officers that participated in this can expect
short careers," commented one retired Navy missile engineer.
"Rank officers have to go in front of the Senate for promotion."

Weldon is not alone in his evaluation of the Russian Sunburn. In
July 1999, Jamestown Foundation defense analyst Richard Fisher
wrote an evaluation of the Russian-built Sunburn missile being
sold to China. According to Fisher, the U.S. Navy cannot stop the
Sunburn.

"The Sunburn anti-ship missile is perhaps the most lethal
anti-ship missile in the world," wrote Fisher in a review of the
Chinese navy.

"The Sunburn combines a Mach 2.5 speed with a very low-level
flight pattern that uses violent end maneuvers to throw off
defenses. After detecting the Sunburn, the U.S. Navy Phalanx
point defense system may have only 2.5 seconds to calculate a
fire solution -- not enough time before the devastating impact of
a 750-lb. warhead."

According to the recently released documentation, the effort
started under a secret U.S. Navy project code-named "Ballerina."
In September 1993, the Point Mugu, Calif., Naval Warfare Center
prepared a report titled, "22-Surrogate Targets Program (STP)
SS-N-22 'Sunburn' Launch Integration and Firing Demonstration."

The documents show that the U.S. Navy planned to test Sunburn
missiles as early as 1993. The 1993 plan includes detailed maps
of proposed Sunburn test flights from the Navy missile range
located at Point Mugu.

"The Navy is ... proposing to conduct flight demonstrations of
the modern SS-N-22 supersonic ASM," notes the Navy 1993 report.

"To perform the pilot phase of flight demonstrations, there is a
need for complete documentation, support equipment, launch
control systems and foreign technical assistance. The later will
consist of foreign trained SS-N-22 weapon systems specialists
that can provide training/instruction on handling, maintenance
and operation of the system."

Another document, a 1995 status report prepared for the Navy,
states that a U.S. defense contractor had "reached a basic
agreement with the Russian manufacturer of the SS-N-22 (Arsenjev
Aviation Company 'Progress') on the concept of acquiring the
SS-N-22 missiles as targets."

The 1995 document notes that the contractor planned to obtain as
many as 100 Sunburn missiles directly from the Russian navy
inventory. The missiles included "active and dummy warheads,"
complete with the current Russian-made electronics such as the
radar seeker, navigation systems and radio altimeter.

A July 1995 status report written for the Navy noted that the
Russians had agreed to the Sunburn sale and that a "letter of
'bona fides' from the U.S. government would be necessary" in
order to enter into formal negotiations. The 1995 report also
warned "the Russians felt that strict confidentiality of such an
acquisition program should be maintained."

The documents show the U.S. Navy responded two months later. In
September 1995, U.S. Navy Principal Deputy Vice Adm. W.C. Bowes
sent a letter to Adm. Felix Gromov, then Commander-in-Chief of
the Russian navy, advising the admiral of the possible sale.

"I appreciate the opportunity to convey to you the United States
Navy's interest in acquiring all variants of the SS-N-22
'Sunburn' Anti-Ship Supersonic Ship-to-ship missile for test and
evaluation," wrote Bowes.

Russian Embassy Press officer Mikhail Shugalian did not deny the
"authenticity" of the documents in an interview from his office
in Washington D.C. The Russian military attach� in Washington was
unavailable for comment. Russia has sold Sunburns to China and
eight nuclear-tipped SS-N-22 missiles reportedly arm an advanced
Russian- made Sovremenny-class destroyer now operated by the
Chinese navy.

"I can provide no comment," stated Shugalian.

According to the newly released U.S. Navy documentation, each
SS-N-22 Sunburn missile can be armed with a "nuclear" warhead
equal to over 200,000 tons of TNT. News reports of nuclear
warheads on Sunburn missiles sold to China were first published
in WorldNetDaily in 1999. William Triplett, co-author of "Red
Dragon Rising," stated that the new Chinese Sovremenny-class
destroyer is equipped with eight nuclear-tipped Russian-made
Sunburn anti-ship missiles. China is expected to purchase as many
as eight nuclear-armed Sovremenny destroyers from Russia.

The Clinton administration's failure to take advantage of the
1995 Russian offer was recently re-enforced by the U.S. Navy. On
Aug. 11, the U.S. Navy again issued a proposal to "evaluate the
feasibility of obtaining" the Russian Sunburn. The proposal,
prepared by the Naval Air Systems Command, is titled "SS-N-22
Concept, Exploration and Definition Analysis."

According to the August Navy contract proposal, "the Russian
SS-N-22 missile (North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
designator ('Sunburn')) is manufactured in and by the Republic of
Russia. The Russian Federation is the only known source for this
system. ... The (U.S.) Contractor would have sole responsibility
for acquiring and importing the SS-N-22 assets and coordinating
all attendant license and clearance necessities with the U.S. and
foreign governments."

Weldon, however, was not pleased with the renewed Navy effort to
purchase the deadly Russian missile. Weldon is considered Capitol
Hill's leading expert in Russian studies.

"This entire affair is a further indication of the absolute
bankruptcy of the Clinton/Gore administration's foreign policy,"
he concluded.


Source documents & Sunburn images/specs -

http://www.softwar.net/3m82.html


=================================================================
             Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT

  FROM THE DESK OF:                    <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
                      *Mike Spitzer*     <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
                         ~~~~~~~~          <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

   The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
       Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
=================================================================

<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please!  These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.

Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
 <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>

http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
 <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]

To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Om

Reply via email to