Russian missile scandal prompts Hill 'outrage'

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.

1993 Wireframe sketch of Russian SS-N-22 "Sunburn" supersonic cruise missile from a Navy proposal to test the weapon. Illustration obtained from the U.S. Navy via the Freedom of Information Act.

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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."

Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., ranking member of the House National Security Committee.

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."

U.S. Navy detailed map of proposed Sunburn flight test from the missile range located at Point Mugu, Calif. Document obtained via Freedom of Information Act. Click image to enlarge.

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.

Russian warship fires supersonic Sunburn missile during recent naval exercises. The Sunburn has been called the most lethal anti-ship missile in the world.

"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 attaché 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.

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