Super Duper Secret Mega Weapons

Is Moscow Developing Super Duper Secret Mega Weapons?

By SIMON SHUSTER / MOSCOW Thursday, Apr. 19, 2012

Russian self-propelled howitizer MSTA are seen during a rehearsal for the May 9 Victory Day parade at Ababino military polygon on April, 4, 2012 near Moscow. Sasha Mordovets / Getty Images

The first mention of these mega-weapons came in February, when Vladimir Putin, Russia's perennial leader, published an article as part of what would be a successful campaign to win a third term as President. In the near future, he wrote, military strength will rely on a country's prowess in space and cyber warfare, but further down the line, weapons will emerge based on "new physical principles," such as "lasers, geophysics, waves, genetic engineering, psycho-physics and etc." Not only will they be at least as deadly as Russia's nukes, Putin wrote, but they will be "more acceptable in a political and military sense." That is supposed to be part of their appeal: unlike biological and chemical weapons, which are banned under international law, these would be well within bounds.


• turns diesel fuel into non-combustible goop, making engines stall within a radius of several miles. Never mind that most of this stuff would violate pretty much every law of physics. The Russian government is trying to outpace the Americans again, so propaganda is key. Physics is beside the point./.../
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