Russia shows off Arctic military might as it debuts fighting snowmobile at Red Square parade

Russia showcased a new fighting snowmobile equipped with a machine gun in its annual Victory Day parade on Red Square on Wednesday, as it seeks a military push into the warming Arctic. The snowmobiles were part of an array of fearsome new war machines demonstrated at the parade, including the Su-57 stealth fighter jet, the Dagger hypersonic missile, unmanned aerial vehicles and a robotic tank.  White camouflage trucks emblazoned with the polar bear emblem of Russia's Arctic forces carried the TTM 190-40 snowmobiles, which can operate in temperatures as low as -50С, past president Vladimir Putin and other attendees standing on top of Lenin's tomb. Guests of honour included Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Serbian president Alexander Vucic and American B-movie actor and martial artist Steven Seagal. Mr Putin and Mr Netanyahu watched the troops and military equipment march through Red Square for the 73rd annual Victory Day parade Credit: Nataliy Zemboska/Anadolu Agency With a speed of 40 miles per hour and a range of 300 miles, the snowmobile keeps its two-man crew warm in an enclosed cabin and can defend itself with a 7.62mm PKP machine gun mounted on the back.  While countries like the United States and Sweden have conducted military exercises with snowmobiles, Canada is the only other country known to have developed military sledges, specifically an electric “stealth snowmobile”.  As climate change rapidly reduces sea ice, Russia has been developing Arctic oil and gas reserves, which could be worth up to $35 trillion, and building Atomic icebreakers for an expected uptick in shipping through the northeast passage.  Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles rumble through Red Square on Wednesday Credit: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters But China is also increasing its Arctic presence by financing liquified natural gas projects and announcing a “Polar Silk Road” initiative. Nato troops held war games in Norway in 2014, and British Royal Marines have also trained their US counterparts in Arctic warfare there. To strengthen its north flank, Russia has opened airbases, deployed troops and launched an Arctic arms race featuring military icebreakers, robotic submarines and various fighting vehicles. As part of air defence forces, the TTM 190-40s were accompanied at the parade by the Tor M2DT, a surface-to-air missile system mounted on a tracked all-terrain vehicle for Arctic operations. The TTM-1901-40 snowmobile Credit: Mikhail Metzel/TASS In talks with Mr Putin on Wednesday, Mr Netanyahu is expected to argue against Russia's plans to give S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Syria in response to airstrikes by the United States, UK and France there last month, a deployment that would put Tel Aviv airport within range of the Bashar al-Assad's regime.   Full of solemn words and martial pageantry, the Victory Day parade each year embodies the patriotic commemoration of the Second World War around which Mr Putin has based his jingoistic rule. Some 13,000 troops, 160 vehicles and 75 aircraft participated in the parade in Moscow. Smaller parades were held in cities around Russia, including Volgograd, which was celebrating the 75th anniversary of the battle of Stalingrad, one of the bloodiest conflicts in history, and at the Russian base in Syria.  Children from the defence ministry's Junarmia group, which won notoriety by once pretending to storm a replica of the 1945 Reichstag, took part in the parade for the first time this year.  In another first, female personnel also marched in this year's procession. 

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/2FYTYIY
May 09, 2018 at 07:37PM