There was a large element of posturing in the presentation that accompanied Vladimir Putin’s state of the union address last week, showing a mock-up missile seemingly heading for the coast of Florida. It is hard to know whether the weapons he boasts Russia has developed — including an “invincible” hypersonic missile, an underwater drone and a nuclear-powered cruise missile — really exist, or work as well as claimed. Even if they do, they would hardly change the balance of power. Yet this is still a dangerous escalation in both rhetoric and military strategy.
弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)上周发表国情咨文演讲时使用的画面——一枚模型导弹似乎正在飞向佛罗里达海岸——有很大故作姿态的成分。很难弄清楚他所吹嘘的俄罗斯研发的武器——包括“无敌的”高超音速导弹、水下无人潜航器和核动力巡航导弹——是否真的存在或者像宣称的那样强大。即便真有，这些武器也很难改变当下的力量平衡。然而，此举仍是俄方言辞和军事战略上的一次危险升级。