The Russian Pravda has published an article titled "Russia Prepares Nuclear Surprise For NATO," citing a September 1, 2014 US State Department report that signaled US and Russia have reached parity in terms of deployed strategic nuclear weapons.
Although
the article does not explicitly contain threats against NATO or the US,
the message of the article is clear: The readily deployable Russian
nuclear arsenal is growing and now matches that of the US.
From Pravda:
It
just so happens that today, Russia's strategic nuclear forces (SNF) are
even more advanced in comparison with those of the US, as they ensure
parity on warheads with a significantly smaller number of carriers of
strategic nuclear weapons. This gap between Russia and the United States
may only grow in the future, given the fact that Russian defense
officials promised to rearm Russia's SNF with new generation missiles.
In a September report, followed by an October fact sheet, the US Bureau of Arms Control echoes Pravda's claims.
Although
the US vastly leads Russia in the deployment of intercontinental
ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and enjoys an advantage in deployed heavy
bombers of 794 to 528, the US and Russia are at parity on the actual
number of nuclear warheads deployed aboard ICBMs and heavy bombers. The
numbers are almost identical: 1,642 to 1,643.
Since February 2011, both the US and Russia have increased their
number of deployed strategic nuclear weapons. However, Russia has
increased its deployment significantly more than the US has. As of
October, Russia has deployed an additional 131 warheads since 2011.
This increase in deployed nuclear weapons is despite the signing of New START, which Russia and the US agreed to in
February 2011. According to the treaty, both sides were to be limited
to 700 deployed ICBMS, submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs),
and heavy bombers along with 1,550 total deployed nuclear warheads on
those platforms.
Currently,
both the US and Russia have more deployed nuclear weapons than the
end-state of the treaty envisions. However, there is concern regarding
both to the number of new warheads Russia is deploying along with
various threats from Moscow relating to its nuclear capabilities.
For instance in March, a prominent Russian broadcaster warned that Russia could turn the US into "radioactive dust."
Russia has also taken an increasingly bellicose stance towards the West since March. Since then, Russia has had 40 alarmingly close military
encounters with NATO or neighboring militaries, including the simulated
attack of a heavily populated Danish island by an armed fighter jet.
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