The specter of our Cold Wars Past is heating up again with news coming out of Russia today that President Vladimir Putin planning to deploy nuclear ballistic missile submarines to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union. Hope everybody remembers how to Duck and Cover.
It's actually not as bad as it seems, at least for Americans, as you lot have been within range of Russian missiles carrying the fires of hell this whole time (comforting, I know). But then again, they've been within the range of ours so fair is fair or something. This is new for Australia though, so it's certainly a nice present for them.
Each of the eight Borei-class subs that Russia is planning to send out carries 16 Bulava nuclear-tipped ICBMs, according to Reuters, with each one of those capable of devastating multiple cities. If they work, that is, as the Bulava has been beset by a number of problems, including weird death-spirals over Norway.
The deployment of the Boreis is not exactly unexpected, when you consider that Russia has grown more assertive in its defense posture as the rising prices of oil have enriched its coffers. Just a few years ago, in fact, Russia began sending its Tu-95 'Bear' bombers back on patrols over Europe, and potentially even near California.
If this all doesn't sound fun yet, don't worry. There are some very snazzy videos floating around Youtube with very patriotic songs:
Think that thing comes with a dash cam?