FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
Putin Thanks Security Service for Helping Keep the Lid on Russia’s New Weapons Capabilities
March 6, 2018 (EIRNS)—Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the Federal Security Service Board (FSB) on March 5, and thanked them for their role in making sure that Russia’s development of stunning new weapons capabilities, that he announced on March 1, was kept secret. These “new armament technologies and systems,” Putin said, “mean improving global security.” As for the role of the FSB (widely known as the successor of the Soviet KGB), Putin said:
“We have been working on this advanced equipment for many years, with thousands of people and hundreds of design and research teams and industrial enterprises. I would like to note that we have managed to provide an effective operational and counterintelligence cover for these large-scale projects. I would like to thank you and everyone who took part in this highly important, complex work for this result; the work was carried out and continues in difficult conditions.”
In all fairness, as important as the FSB operations undoubtedly were in keeping this “Sputnik Shock” a secret until it was announced, one should not underestimate the importance of self-inflicted Western blindness as a result of arrogance bred of a profound commitment to radical empiricism.
Putin also emphasized in his remarks to the FSB that “the key task is counteracting terrorism,” and that “in the past six years, the number of terrorist crimes in Russia has decreased. While in 2012 there were 316 such crimes, in 2014 there were 84, and in 2017 there were 25.”
Putin also met on March 5 with the Commission for Military Technical Cooperation with Foreign States, and reiterated Russia’s policy of remaining a major world exporter of military equipment and technology—which today takes on new significance in light of Putin’s March 1 speech. “The geographic reach of our military technical cooperation is constantly expanding, with the number of partners already in excess of 100 nations,” Putin said.
“Russia will continue to actively pursue military technical cooperation with all interested nations, including the most high-tech segments in those classes of weapons—air force, counter-air defense, ground forces, navy—that displayed exceptional efficiency in the Syria operation.”
