Is Obama’s “Reset” Boosting Destabilizing Russian Arms Sales?

Ariel Cohen /

An assistant shows the block with a red button marked "reset" in English and "overload" in Russian that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton handed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting on March 6, 2009 in Geneva.

In Washington last Friday, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov announced that Russia will supply P-800 Yakhont cruise missiles to Syria, confirming the rumors about the contract between the two countries that appeared in October 2009. The contract was signed in 2007 according to Moscow.

A ram-jet powered Yakhont (“Ruby” or “Sapphire” in Russian) is a universal supersonic anti-ship cruise missile. It can be launched from land, sea, air, and submarines. Because it flies at 2.5 Mach at water-skimming altitudes, it is virtually cloaked from radar detection. It also has a long range—up to 160 miles, and a large warhead, 440 lbs. This sale is yet another poke in the eye of Obama Administration’s “reset” policy with Russia. Deployment of the Yakhonts to Syria is a major threat to U.S. staunchest ally in the Middle East—Israel. (more…)