Russia has retained its non-strategic nuclear arsenal. Only several hundred nuclear bombs, designated for use by NATO-allied jets, have been left at bases in Europe. unilaterally retired and eventually scrapped almost all of its non-strategic nuclear weapons-both the delivery systems and the warheads themselves. According to distinguished Russian journalist Pavel Felgenhauer:Īfter 1991, as the Cold War ended, the U.S. Indeed, Russia continues to increase its force of non-strategic nuclear weapons. Pressure was particularly strong during the Trump administration. pressure to limit non-strategic nuclear weapons in any future arms control negotiations. ![]() effort to close the gap) and because they don’t want to stimulate U.S. This is probably because of the massive Russian advantage in these weapons (they don’t want to motivate any U.S. Russian officials usually talk about them only when they are in extreme threat mode, as evidenced by President Putin’s statements in 2015 and 2018. Russia is much more secretive concerning its non-strategic nuclear forces (tactical nuclear weapons) than its strategic nuclear forces. The intent behind any Russian information release concerning its nuclear and military forces is to intimidate or scare the West in order to achieve Russian foreign policy objectives. The information released on strategic nuclear forces was far greater than for “general purpose forces,” which is Cold War terminology that reflects th at nearly all Russian missiles, strike aircraft, warships, and artillery systems are nuclear -capable. Russia’s emphasis on the importance of its strategic nuclear weapons in its late 2020 public statements was remarkable even by Russian standards. The major difference in 2020 was the delay of the annual strategic nuclear exercise until December, presumably because of the U.S. This effort’s high point is a meeting just before the Western Christmas on Russian nuclear and military modernizations attended by President Putin and the senior Russian nuclear military leadership hosted by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. This is followed by November meetings in Sochi between President Vladimir Putin and his generals concerning Russia’s nuclear and military programs, often accompanied by the release of a substantial amount of information about Russia’s modernization programs. How powerful are Putin’s forces? Every year in October Russia conducts (and usually announces) a major strategic nuclear exercise. Russia has spent billions on military modernization.
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