Russia Overtakes U.S. in Nuclear Warhead Deployment

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Russia Overtakes U.S. in Nuclear Warhead Deployment

By Matthew Bodner

Alexander Demianchuk/Reuters

Soldier salutes crowds during the Moscow Victory Day Parades in May 2014.
With 1,643 nuclear warheads deployed, Moscow has reversed 14 years of U.S. superiority, and now has one more warhead in the field than the Pentagon, according to a U.S. State Department report.
Though both former Cold War adversaries have massively cut their nuclear arsenals since 1991, the data shows that over the past six months — a period that has seen Russia-West relations dive bomb over the crisis in Ukraine — both nations have boosted their nuclear forces.
The report, which is released annually to monitor arms control efforts, has two key metrics — the number of individual nuclear warheads deployed, and the number of launchers and vehicles to deliver those warheads, such as ICBMS, submarines and bomber planes.
Since March, when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, Moscow has upped the ante in both regards, increasing the number of launchers from 906 to 911 and its arsenal of warheads deployed from 1,512 to 1,643.
This has allowed Russia to achieve parity with the U.S., which has showed less zeal in deploying new weaponry, growing its deployment of its nuclear warheads from 1,585 to 1,642 since March. Washington has reduced the number of its launchers from 952 to 912.
Although both nations increased their deployments this year, over the past three years they have moved in different directions: In 2011, Russia had 1537 warheads deployed — 106 less than now. The U.S. three years ago had 1,800 warheads deployed, meaning it has decommissioned 158.
The uptick in Russian deployment mirrors advances in weapons delivery systems, according to Russian nuclear weapons expert Pavel Podvig. Moscow is pressing forward with its troubled Bulava (Mace) submarine-launched missiles, and new Yars land based intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Russia’s nuclear forces — the backbone of its military might — would receive a complete overhaul by 2020 as part of the nation’s massive $700 billion rearmament campaign.
Controlling Arms?
Under the New START arms control treaty, which was signed into force in 2011 by Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, the size of each nation’s nuclear arsenal is reported every six months. The latest was released this week.
Although the treaty sets a cap of 1,550 nuclear warheads, it counts weapons on bomber aircraft as being a single warhead — meaning that each side may have a few hundred warheads over the limit.
That cap is a fraction of what Russia and the U.S. once aimed at one another…..MORE HERE

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