Russia possesses one of the largest stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in the world.[1] The country declared an arsenal of 28,000 tons of chemical weapons in 2008[2]. According to the Nuclear Notebook Russia had 5,200 nuclear weapons deployed in early 2008, making itsstockpile the largest in the world.[3][4][5] Other sources, such as Alexander Khramchikhin, an analyst at the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, say that Russia has 3,100 nuclear warheads, while the U.S. has 5,700.[6] According to a report published by the U.S State Department in April, 2009, Russia has 3,909 nuclear warheads, while the US has 5,576 warheads.[7] The Soviet Union ratified the Geneva Protocol on January 22, 1975 with reservations. The reservations were later dropped on January 18, 2001.
[edit][edit]Nuclear weapons
History
[edit]Nuclear arsenal of Russia
Russia was estimated to have around 6,681 active strategic nuclear warheads in its arsenal.[8] Russia also has a large but unknown number oftactical nuclear weapons [1]. Strategic nuclear forces of Russia include:[8]
- Land based Strategic Rocket Forces: 489 missiles carrying up to 1,788 warheads; they employ immobile (silos), like SS-18 Satan, and mobile delivery systems, like SS-27 Topol M.
- Sea based Strategic Fleet: 12 submarines carrying up to 609 warheads; they should be able to employ, in a near future, delivery systems like SS-N-30 Bulava.
- Strategic Aviation: 258 bombers(36 Tu-160,64 Tu-95,and 158 Tu-22m) carrying up to 924 cruise missiles.
| Russia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First nuclear weapon test | August 29, 1949 |
| First fusion weapon test | November 22, 1955 |
| Largest yield test | 50 Mt (October 30, 1961) |
| Peak stockpile | 41,000 warheads (1991) |
| Current stockpile | 2825 total (2009 est.)[9] Less than 2,300 according to another source.[10] |
| Maximum missile range | Intercontinental |
| NPTsignatory | Yes (1968, one of five recognized powers) |
[edit]Doctrine of limited nuclear war
According to a Russian military doctrine stated in 2003, tactical nuclear weapons of the Strategic Deterrence Forces could be used to "prevent political pressure against Russia and her allies (Armenia, Belarus, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan)." Thus, the Russian leadership "is officially contemplating a limited nuclear war".[11]
[edit]Nuclear proliferation
After the Korean War, Soviet Union transferred nuclear technology and weapons to the People's Republic of China as an adversary of theUnited States and NATO According to Ion Mihai Pacepa, "Khrushchev’s nuclear-proliferation process started with Communist China in April 1955, when the new ruler in the Kremlin consented to supply Beijing a sample atomic bomb and to help with its mass production. Subsequently, the Soviet Union built all the essentials of China’s new military nuclear industry."[12]
Russia is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" (NWS) under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which Russia ratified (as the Soviet Union) in 1968.
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, a number of Soviet-era nuclear warheads remained on the territories of Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. Under the terms of the Lisbon Protocol to the NPT, and following the 1995 Trilateral Agreement between Russia, Belarus, and the USA, these were transferred to Russia, leaving Russia as the sole inheritor of the Soviet nuclear arsenal. It is estimated that the USSR had approximately 39,000 nuclear weapons stockpiled at the time of its collapse.
The collapse of the Soviet Union allowed for a warming of relations with NATO. Fears of a nuclear holocaust lessened. In September 1997, the former secretary of the Russian Security Council Alexander Lebed claimed 100 "suitcase sized" nuclear weapons were unaccounted for. He said he was attempting to inventory the weapons when he was fired by President Boris Yeltsin in October 1996.[13] In 2005, Sergey Sinchenko, a legislator from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc said 250 nuclear weapons were unaccounted for. When comparing documents of nuclear weapons transferred from Ukraine to weapons received by Russia, there was a 250 weapon discrepancy.[14] Indeed, several US politicians have expressed worries and promised legislation addressing the threat.[15]
In 2002, the United States and Russia agreed to reduce their stockpiles to not more than 2200 warheads each in the SORT treaty. In 2003, the US rejected Russian proposals to further reduce both nation's nuclear stockpiles to 1500 each. Russia, in turn, refused to discuss reduction of tactical nuclear weapons[11]
Russia is actively producing and developing new nuclear weapons. Since 1997 it manufactures Topol-M (SS-27) ICBMs.
There were allegations that Russia contributed to North Korean nuclear program, selling it the equipment for the safe storage and transportation of nuclear materials.[16]Nevertheless, Russia condemned Korean nuclear tests since then.[17]
According to high-ranking Russian SVR defector Tretyakov, he had a meeting with two Russian businessman representing a state-createdChetek corporation in 1991. They came up with a fantastic project of destroying large quantities of chemical wastes collected from Western countries at the island of Novaya Zemlya (a test place for Soviet nuclear weapons) using an underground nuclear blast. The project was rejected by Canadian representatives, but one of the businessmen told Tretyakov that he keeps his own nuclear bomb at his dacha outsideMoscow. Tretyakov thought that man was insane, but the "businessmen" (Vladimir K. Dmitriev) replied: "Do not be so naive. With economic conditions the way they are in Russia today, anyone with enough money can buy a nuclear bomb. It's no big deal really" [18].
[edit]Nuclear sabotage allegations
The highest-ranking GRU defector Stanislav Lunev described alleged Soviet plans for using tactical nuclear weapons for sabotage against the United States in the event of war. He described Soviet-made suitcase nukes identified as RA-115s (or RA-115-01s for submersible weapons) which weigh from fifty to sixty pounds. These portable bombs can last for many years if wired to an electric source. “In case there is a loss of power, there is a battery backup. If the battery runs low, the weapon has a transmitter that sends a coded message – either by satellite or directly to a GRU post at a Russian embassy or consulate.” [19].
Lunev was personally looking for hiding places for weapons caches in the Shenandoah Valley area. [19] He said that "it is surprisingly easy to smuggle nuclear weapons into the US" either across the Mexican border or using a small transport missile that can slip though undetected when launched from a Russian airplane [19] US Congressman Curt Weldon supported claims by Lunev, but "Weldon said later the FBI discredited Lunev, saying that he exaggerated things." [20] Searches of the areas identified by Lunev - who admits he never planted any weapons in the US - have been conducted, "but law-enforcement officials have never found such weapons caches, with or without portable nuclear weapons." in the US [21](several Soviet weapons caches booby-trapped with "Lightning" explosive devices were found in Europe based on information provided by another defector, Vasili Mitrokhin [22])
No comments:
Post a Comment