Russia is deploying long-range, precision cruise missiles to the western Atlantic that American defense officials say will allow Moscow to target Washington and other East Coast cities with conventional or nuclear attacks.
Moscow is adding Kalibr land attack cruise missiles to both warships and missile submarines that Moscow plans to use in Atlantic patrols near the United States, sorties that were once routine during the Cold War.
The new sea-based Kalibr deployments are expected in the coming months, according to officials familiar with intelligence reports of the Russian maritime operations.
The land-attack version of the Kalibr, known as the SS-N-30A by NATO, is a relatively new weapon and was showcased for the first time by Moscow in attacks on Syria that began in 2015
Russia has stated that over 100 Kalibr missile strikes were carried out against Islamic terrorists and other anti-Syrian government rebels.
The Office of Naval Intelligence in 2015 said the Kalibr is deployed on Russia's new Sverodvinsk-class nuclear attack submarine as well as older submarines and surface warships. A total of 32 Kalibrs can be launched from missile tubes on the new submarine.
Nuclear-armed Kalibrs will be deployed on Russia's new Borei-class missile submarines as well as the attack submarines.
Most of Russia's surface warships and many coastal vessels are being outfitted with the long-range missile.
The missile is considered very lethal because it flies close to the sea surface, frustrating efforts to detect and strike the missile with anti-missile systems.
"Russia plans to deploy Kalibr capability on all new design construction of nuclear and non-nuclear submarines, corvettes, frigates, and larger surface ships," the ONI said in a report, noting the missile gives even modest vessels "significant offensive capability."
"The proliferation of this capability within the new Russian Navy is profoundly changing its ability to deter, threaten or destroy adversary targets."
According to ONI, the Kalibr land attack missile has a range of between 930 miles and 1,550 miles.
That range means a ship or submarine armed with Kalibrs and located 1,000 miles off the U.S. coast could target all American cities stretching from Boston to Miami and as far west as Chicago.
Kalibr is a concern for U.S. military commanders in Europe as a result of their deployment on ships and submarines in the Mediterranean and areas near Europe. The missile has been compared to the Navy's Tomahawk cruise missile.
Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, NATO commander and commander of the European Command, told Congress last spring he is concerned about the submarine-launched Kalibr.
"The activity level of their maritime forces is up in Europe," Scaparrotti told the House Armed Services Committee, adding that the deployments were not normal.
"Most of their ships now have a Kalibr system on them," he said. "It is both conventional and can be nuclear, if they choose to do so. It's a very good system. It provides reach and precision, and, of course, wherever they have a ship, whether it's undersea or on the surface, many of their ships now have the Kalibr system on them."

Scaparrotti said the Russians are making "rapid progress" in developing the new Severodvinsk nuclear attack submarine, more capable Kilo submarines, and Kalibr cruise missiles.

"Russia has renewed its capabilities in the North Atlantic and the Arctic in places not seen since the Cold War. For example, Russian forces have recently reoccupied seven for their former Soviet Union bases in the Arctic Circle," Foggo said.
 Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of Russian magazine National Defense, stated that Russia could deploy its submarines close to the United States.
"Our submarines, too, might have surfaced suddenly some place in the Gulf of Mexico to shock America," Korotchenko said. "We have the corresponding forces of our submarine fleet there. We do not do that for the simple reason our purpose is not to show off in such a silly way, but to cope with the assigned tasks."
Russia claimed in state media earlier this year that in 2013 a Russian submarine sailed into the Gulf of Mexico undetected.
A Russian submarine officer asserted that an Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarine armed with Kalibr cruise missiles came within "missile strike distance from one of the main bases of American submarines," an apparent reference to the Kings Bay submarine base in Georgia.






Iran to send warships to the Atlantic, closer to U.S. waters
 The Iranian navy will send warships to deploy in the Atlantic from March, a top commander said on Friday, as the Islamic Republic seeks to increase the operating range of its naval forces to the backyard of the United States, its arch foe. 
Iran sees the presence of U.S. aircraft carriers in the Gulf as a security concern and its navy has sought to counter that by showing the flag near American waters. 
A flotilla will leave for the Atlantic early in the Iranian new year, starting from March, Iran’s naval deputy commander said. 
“The Atlantic Ocean is far and the operation of the Iranian naval flotilla might take five months,” Rear-Admiral Touraj Hassani was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.
He said Sahand, a newly-built destroyer, would be one of the warships. Sahand has a flight deck for helicopters and Iran says it is equipped with anti-aircraft and anti-ship guns, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles and has electronic warfare capabilities. 
Hassani said in December that Iran would soon send two to three vessels on a mission to Venezuela. 
A senior Iranian military official said last month that the navy could sail in the Atlantic near U.S. waters since U.S. aircraft carriers were allowed to move around in international waters near Iran.