Russia's Mount Yamantau - what are they preparing for?

I've just been reading up a bit about this highly secure Russian facility.
I find it interesting that they have put so much money and time into it since the end of the cold war, it implies that they may be aware of a great threat of some sort.
I mean this thing is HUGE, the size of Washington DC? Underground!
They also have two 'private' towns built on top of the facility and it has it's own higway and railway!

Since the end of the Cold War in 1991, U.S. intelligence sources believe the Russian government has pumped more than $6 billion into Yamantau alone, to construct a sprawling underground complex that spans an area as large as Washington, D.C., inside the Beltway -- some 400 square miles.

In 1998, in a rare public comment, then-Commander of the U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) Gen. Eugene Habinger, called Yamantau "a very large complex -- we estimate that it has millions of square feet available for underground facilities. We don't have a clue as to what they're doing there."

It is believed to be large enough to house 60,000 persons, with a special air filtration system designed to withstand a nuclear, chemical or biological attack. Enough food and water is believed to be stored at the site to sustain the entire underground population for months on end.

www.worldnetdaily.com...

I just wonder what it is they know or are afraid of that justifies the spending of huge sums of money like this.

[edit on 23-8-2004 by AgentSmith]

It's probably the same type of facilities preserved in the United States to safeguard the government in case of a serious disaster.

That's true, it just seems so large and they seem to have put so much money into it, even after the Cold War was over.

Originally posted by AgentSmith
That's true, it just seems so large and they seem to have put so much money into it, even after the Cold War was over.

it does seem kind of large and expensive, but i wouldn't be surprised if the cost and size have been exagerrated a bit by the west. western intelligence has a long history of inflating the size of russian military projects.

-koji K.

Gimme a few minutes I'll dig up info on the known US government spiderholes.

Originally posted by AgentSmith
That's true, it just seems so large and they seem to have put so much money into it, even after the Cold War was over.

Im not surprised. The leaders of both sides want to make sure they are safe if the make a mistake . However, it is kind of keeping with how the communist ran things they like one huge factory instead of several smaller ones. that may be why it is so huge?

But for my money I would rather spread things around for safety

Remember how NORAD is way beneath Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado? That was a very publicized project. It doesn't make much sense to let your enemies know where to aim there ICBMs, so either the US was so confident Cheyenne was impervious to nukes that it didn't need secrecy, or there are other areas reserved.

Either that, or the Russians are afraid of the US gaining on them and creating a 'mineshaft gap.' - General Buck Turgisson.

Originally posted by taibunsuu
Remember how NORAD is way beneath Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado? That was a very publicized project. It doesn't make much sense to let your enemies know where to aim there ICBMs, so either the US was so confident Cheyenne was impervious to nukes that it didn't need secrecy, or there are other areas reserved.

One difference was at the time the accuracy of the missiles was bad and NORAD was confident that the complex would survive a near miss, but a direct hit would render it toast!