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    U.S. Nuclear Forces: News and Discussion

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    U.S. Nuclear Forces: News and Discussion Empty Mysterious Missile Launches over Southern California

    Post  prime13 Wed Nov 10, 2010 9:00 am

    Mysterious Missile Launches over Southern California
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    Post  GarryB Wed Nov 10, 2010 11:47 pm

    It is rather unlikely to be a missile launch as a show of strength when it was done out of the blue and with no warning.

    The lack of clear information makes it appear very strange... like it is a rogue launch or the US military is out of control... or at the least the fact that they don't know who launched it yet suggests they seem to have little control of the water near their own territory.


    Regarding the new START treaty I have seen news reports that suggest that the Americans in the senate or congress or whereever it is being ratified want about 50 amendments to change the wording to make it clear it doesn't limit ABM systems in Europe. The response from a Russian official is understandable as he said that if such changes are made before it is signed the Russians will withdraw from their ratification.
    Fair enough really... when you sign such things they become meaningless if one signs the document and then the other party makes changes to the agreement before signing... it is like they have signed different contracts.
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    Post  IronsightSniper Thu Nov 11, 2010 1:06 am

    Some also speculate that the "missile launch" was just a bad angle of a Jet liner taking off.
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    U.S. Nuclear Forces: News and Discussion Empty Mysterious Missile Launches over Southern California

    Post  nightcrawler Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:07 pm

    IronsightSniper wrote:Some also speculate that the "missile launch" was just a bad angle of a Jet liner taking off.

    This may be true especially if you compare the efflux of the unknown launch with the real one; the former has a very wispier contrails** rather it should be thick white efflux owing to the presence of Aluminum Oxide .... dunno

    **
    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/09/national/main7036716.shtml

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    Post  Pervius Mon Jul 18, 2011 2:31 am

    The nuclear missile that burned in it's silo at Ft. Dix in New Jersey.....what do you think caused it?

    At the time Melvin Laird was hammering away on the military (Mcnamara) and what he was doing in the Pentagon....

    Do you think Mcnamara and his followers would have purposely burned a nuclear missile in it's silo to punish Nixon's Sec Def Melvin Laird?

    Americans never were told of that nuclear missile burning in it's silo until decades later. Was it a political action that resulted in the East Coast receiving fallout from the burning plutonium?


    Did a similar missile burn at Polaris Point on Guam at the same time?...that's still a secret?

    Who did it? Was it for political purposes against Laird?
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    Post  GarryB Mon Jul 18, 2011 3:41 am

    The US government believes in open transparent government... I am sure they would not lie to the US public... Twisted Evil Twisted Evil
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    Post  Pervius Mon Jul 18, 2011 10:36 am

    I think affirmative action caused it.

    Putting idiots into jobs they aren't smart enough to do. Thus why now people working on nukes have firearms aimed at their temples.....like that's going to help!

    ha ha ha ha!!


    Russia should be worried about the 2 US Submarines fully manned with women.....if that isn't an accident waiting to happen.....it could be the event that triggers all the ICBM's to leave their silo's and mankind to become extinct.

    Good of you New Zealand blokes to let US nuclear submarines to finally enter port....pray those girls aren't all having that time of month and accidentally do a live fire instead of an exercise. Russians may see a missile launch towards them from New Zealand and have to launch a counterstrike at you in kind.







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    Post  GarryB Tue Jul 19, 2011 2:56 am

    Good of you New Zealand blokes to let US nuclear submarines to finally enter port....

    AFAIK that policy has not changed.

    Also AFAIK there have been no visits by US nuclear armed or powered vessels so far.

    I would not put it past the current government, which is just as compliant as the UK and Australian governments in regard to the US.

    Right now we are being told that our system of subsidising medication for people who need it is not fair by the US and we have to make sick people pay for their medicines at proper rates or let them die if we want a free trade agreement with the US.

    Personally I don't think we need a free trade agreement with the US. WTF is the WTO for if we need extra separate free trade agreements with all our trading partners?

    ...the US will just use such an agreement to screw us anyway.
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    Post  Pervius Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:28 am

    The US makes people pay full costs for medications...and many of those medicines are PLACEBO's...even narcotics like Oxycontin.

    The US wouldn't have sent the TS Golden Bear or the USS Cleveland to New Zealand unless your country dropped the ban on nuclear ships.

    You Government was told of.....imminent firing about to occur.....well actually it's already started.

    There will be nuclear vessels in New Zealand within 12 months.....they will have your flag flown over it once one of your Officers steps aboard to take it over while in your area.
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    Post  GarryB Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:11 am

    The TS Golden Bear is a training ship.

    We have had visits by the Nadezhda (spelling) which is a Russian Navy training ship before too... doesn't mean we changed our anti nuke policy.

    The USS Cleveland is a landing ship which is neither nuke propelled or armed.

    Looks to me like the US is respecting our anti nuke policy and is lifting its boycott of our ports.

    Perhaps it was our efforts in Afghanistan?

    There will be nuclear vessels in New Zealand within 12 months..

    I doubt it. There is an election soon and that is about the only thing that will cost the National party the election.
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    Post  SOC Mon Sep 26, 2011 10:28 pm

    Pervius wrote:The nuclear missile that burned in it's silo at Ft. Dix in New Jersey.....what do you think caused it?

    A helium tank inside the missile ruptured and caused a fire. It was a BOMARC SAM at McGuire AFB, contained in a launch shelter, not a coffin. I've been to the abandoned launch site, I worked at Ft. Dix for a few years.
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    Post  GarryB Tue Sep 27, 2011 2:16 am

    Russia should be worried about the 2 US Submarines fully manned with women.....if that isn't an accident waiting to happen.....it could be the event that triggers all the ICBM's to leave their silo's and mankind to become extinct.

    Yuri: Sir, the US has gone to Defcon 1 again.

    Vladimir: Again? They have been going to Defcon 1 once a month every month for the last 6 months.

    Yuri: Do you think it is related to the SSBN Susan B Anthony, and the SSBN Hillary Clinton both being commissioned 6 months ago?
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    Post  Russian Patriot Sat Oct 01, 2011 5:09 pm

    GarryB wrote:
    Russia should be worried about the 2 US Submarines fully manned with women.....if that isn't an accident waiting to happen.....it could be the event that triggers all the ICBM's to leave their silo's and mankind to become extinct.

    Yuri: Sir, the US has gone to Defcon 1 again.

    Vladimir: Again? They have been going to Defcon 1 once a month every month for the last 6 months.

    Yuri: Do you think it is related to the SSBN Susan B Anthony, and the SSBN Hillary Clinton both being commissioned 6 months ago?

    ROFL!
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    Post  Russian Patriot Fri Oct 28, 2011 12:35 am

    U.S. has 'nuclear superiority' over Russia



    22:04 25/10/2011
    WASHINGTON, October 25 (RIA Novosti)
    Tags: New START Treaty, U.S. Department of State, United States, Russia



    Data published by the U.S. Department of State on Tuesday indicates that the United States has some 300 more deployed nuclear weapons than Russia.

    According to New START Treaty Aggregate Numbers of Strategic Offensive Arms facts sheet, posted on the State Department’s website, the United States has 822 deployed ICBMs, SLBMs, and heavy bombers, while Russia has 516.

    Russia is also at a disadvantage in the number of warheads on deployed carriers – 1,566 warheads against 1,790 American warheads.

    The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which entered into force on February 5, 2011, commits the United States and the Russian Federation to reduce and limit the number of deployed and non-deployed strategic offensive arms to the agreed aggregate numbers.

    Beginning April 6, 2011, inspections under the New START Treaty are regularly conducted in the Russian Federation and the United States with consistent data exchange carried out every six months.

    To date, the U.S. has conducted twelve inspections while Russia has conducted eleven inspections. These inspections have taken place at ICBM, SLBM, and heavy bomber bases, storage facilities, conversion or elimination facilities, and test ranges.

    http://www.en.ria.ru/world/20111025/168112458.html
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    Post  GarryB Fri Oct 28, 2011 4:06 am

    They say you can't polish a turd?

    This really is amusing.

    You certainly could say the US has nuclear superiority over Russia.

    What you could also say is that lazy tardy US is behind in reducing strategic nuclear weapons levels as agreed to by the new START treaty.

    What this article misses is that both sides have to reduce warhead numbers to between 1,500 and 1,200 warheads each, so Russia has to dispose of at least 66 more warheads, while the US has to dispose of 290 warheads.

    I believe the treaty also limits both sides to a max of 800 strategic nuclear weapons platforms, which means Russia can build 200 more if it wants, but the US has to eliminate another 22 platforms to comply.

    Yet the article is some how trying to suggest the US is in an advantaged position...
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    Post  GarryB Fri Oct 28, 2011 4:20 am

    Would also point out that once you get beyond 10-20 modern thermo nuclear warheads, the rest are just rubble shifters, so an advantage of 300 to zero warheads is enormous and very significant, an advantage of 1,800 vs 1,500 is quite meaningless, as those extra 300 warheads will be shifting rubble rather than destroying anything.


    The in service strategic warhead numbers will fluctuate as some missile systems are retired and newer missiles replace them... when an SS-18 is withdrawn that means 10 warheads off the total, while an SS-19 withdrawn means 6 warheads off the total... a Delta III sub withdrawn means 16 odd missiles withdrawn with over 100 warheads deducted.
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    Post  SOC Fri Oct 28, 2011 4:41 am

    Well, we do have a numerical advantage, RIGHT NOW. Nothing nefarious about pointing that out, especially as a public prod to get on with the de-nuking. The point of the treaty is to drawdown both sides so there is no advantage either way. Which, if you ask me, has been a somewhat pointless endeavor insofar as nobody has ever thought to try and get the PRC in on something like this. Although I bet you'd have an easier time getting Israel to sign on to the NPT than getting China to agree to nuclear weapons inspections!

    Anyway, the number of deployed warheads doesn't have to equal 1550. A bomber only counts as one warhead (stupid), so if you've got a B-52H with twelve AGM-86Bs, you've got 1 treaty warhead but twelve real warheads. Depending on who you get your source material from, the numbers can be convoluted and confusing. Which is why there are inspection teams, I guess. I was on a START escort team in the USAF for a while, to oversee and escort the Russian inspectors. Probably the most interesting additional duty I ever got voluntold to take part in Very Happy The best part is that we got a great big tour of our base, looking at the old WSAs and the B-1Bs, getting all sorts of fun info on what the Russians were specifically looking for, like the sealed-off external hardpoints on the Bone. Also, you get 800 total launchers (meaning ICBMs, SLBMs, and bombers), but 700 DEPLOYED launchers. Meaning 100 of them can be stockpiled or stored, but not in service. Or, in the case of one of the US ideas, you can simply pull SLBMs out of a few tubes on each SSBN, since there's no limit to missile submarines, and reduce the deployed figure that way.

    Russia should also have up to 570 deployed launchers: 378 ICBMs, 76 bombers, and 160 SLBMs. Right now that's 1268 ICBM warheads (10 each on 58 R-36M2s, 6 each on 70 UR-100NUTTHs, 1 each on 241 Topol/Topol-Ms, and 3 each on 9 RS-24s), 76 bomber warheads, and 576 SLBM warheads (3 each on 64 R-29Rs, 4 each on 96 Sinevas). That's a total of up to 1920 assuming everyone is fully armed, but that obviously depends on the accuracy of my figures (and therefore my source material as well). Obviously some weapons have been removed from service that I haven't yet caught onto. Now, the 31st Missile Army should disband soon, removing 30 R-36M2s and 27 Topols, and that will affect all the numbers. But the R-30 (six), Liner (ten), and the new liquid-fuel R-36M2 replacement (ten) are going to be MIRVed, so it'll be interesting to see how this all works out in the end.

    Oh, and each side has seven years since he treaty took effect to get down to the required numbers. So calling the US tardy and lazy in drawing down is a bit of a stretch, isn't it? Especially since Russia added deployed warheads since the last data release to rise above the 1550 limit...
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    Post  GarryB Fri Oct 28, 2011 4:57 am

    Well, we do have a numerical advantage, RIGHT NOW. Nothing nefarious about pointing that out, especially as a public prod to get on with the de-nuking.

    I would argue that if this article is to speed up compliance then talking about American advantages is going the wrong way about it.

    It should be talking about the advantages of not having to look after and manage so many nukes and how Russia is ahead of the US in complying with the treaty.

    In many ways this article seems to be suggesting Russia increase production to get parity or its own numerical advantage, which is the opposite of what everyone really wants.

    So calling the US tardy and lazy in drawing down is a bit of a stretch, isn't it? Especially since Russia added deployed warheads since the last data release to rise above the 1550 limit...

    Calling America Tardy was a criticism of the focus of the article, which seems to be pouring praise on America for having more warheads as if to suggest having more was an advantage... I would say in this day and age it is not.

    Regarding actual numbers it is a rather worse imbalance than you suggest as the US is storing its old warheads in non strategic sites, while Russia is selling its old warhead material to the US nuclear energy companies to fuel US reactors.

    Of course the new Russian breeder reactors they are putting into service means spent uranium fuel rods can be clustered around the breeder reactor cores and reenriched to weapons grade level fairly rapidly allowing Russia to create more warheads if needed and to become totally self sufficient in reactor fuel.
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    Post  SOC Fri Oct 28, 2011 5:12 am

    I would argue that if this article is to speed up compliance then talking about American advantages is going the wrong way about it.

    OK, so it's a typical example of the press doing something retarded, proving that press hilarity is most definitely not confined to one hemisphere Very Happy

    ...and how Russia is ahead of the US in complying with the treaty

    But are they really? You can't look at it in terms of who had what when the treaty was signed, because that was the point of signing it in the first place.

    Between February and September (according to the US State Department), the US removed 60 deployed launchers, 10 deployed warheads (I'm guessing, but the disparity there maybe comes from removing missiles that already had warheads taken off, or Ohio SSGN conversions if the timelines match up since each missile tube counts as a launcher), and a reduction of 81 total deployed and non-deployed launchers. The US is still over all of the limits, of course, but again the whole purpose is to get down to a new limit. In the same time frame, Russia removed 5 deployed launchers, but added 29 deployed warheads and 6 deployed/non-deployed launchers (5 might be the ones removed from active status). They're still over the deployed/non-deployed figure, and have now moved over the warhead limit. You could make the argument that the US is going down, but Russia is trending up, just based on those figures.

    All this proves is that nothing really means anything until the seven year period to get to 700/1550/800 is up. If one side or the other waits until the last minute to get rid of everything over the limits, then it solely becomes the fault of the people who authored the thing for not incorporating some sort of meaningful timeline or structured plan for the drawdowns.
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    U.S. Nuclear Forces: News and Discussion Empty Seeking Kremlin Engagement, NATO Weighs Next Nuclear Posture Steps

    Post  TheRealist Fri Sep 14, 2012 12:21 pm

    Seeking Kremlin Engagement, NATO Weighs Next Nuclear Posture Steps
    By Elaine M. Grossman
    Updated: September 13, 2012 | 2:37 p.m.
    September 13, 2012 | 2:22 p.m.

    WASHINGTON - Defense and foreign-ministry officials from NATO’s 28 member nations are meeting in the capital of Slovakia this week to quietly explore how they will pursue nuclear deterrence policies embraced last May at an alliance summit in Chicago.

    The two-day, closed-door meeting beginning on Thursday comes as alliance leaders and member nations weigh prospects for engaging Russia on sought-after reductions in its mammoth, domestic-based arsenal of nonstrategic nuclear weapons.

    To date, Moscow has shown little interest in pulling back or dismantling its tactical atomic arms, despite a widely held view that the warheads have little or no battlefield utility. Nonstrategic or tactical nuclear weapons are typically short-range arms, such as land-based missiles with ranges of less than 300 miles and air- and sea-launched weapons with ranges of less than 400 miles.

    NATO this week declined to release an agenda or participant list for the Bratislava forum. Those taking part, though, are senior diplomatic, civilian, and military officials with nuclear policy responsibilities in their member-nation governments or at NATO headquarters, Global Security Newswire has learned.

    Several alliance officials and other sources spoke on condition of not being named in this article because they were not authorized to address the matter publicly.

    The annual NATO Nuclear Policy Symposium is expected to be little more than an airing of national positions about lingering concerns, as member states wrestle with a pair of competing perspectives laid out at their Chicago meeting, these sources said.

    On the one hand, NATO signaled after the May summit that, for now, it would maintain the status quo in its nuclear forces, which it said combine with conventional arms and missiles defense to “meet the criteria for an effective deterrence and defense posture.”

    On the other hand, the alliance professed a readiness “to consider further reducing its requirement for nonstrategic nuclear weapons assigned to the alliance.”

    The allies said they would contemplate such tactical nuclear reductions “in the context of reciprocal steps by Russia.” NATO drew some barbs for this new proviso, with critics charging the organization had effectively ceded to Russia veto power over how the alliance would manage its own nuclear force levels.

    Some longstanding NATO members appear ready to move toward denuclearization, while some newer alliance states do not. Several Baltic and Central European nations are arguing that U.S. nuclear forces in Europe continue to play an important role in warding off threats, and NATO’s consensus-based decision-making process has amplified their voice.

    The disparity in views reflects varying levels of confidence among Eastern and Western European allies as to whether NATO conventional forces alone represent a sufficient political and military deterrent to the possibility of a resurgent Russia. Countries closest to Russia’s borders tend to sense most keenly their potential vulnerability.

    If NATO takes concrete steps to reduce its reliance on tactical nuclear arms based in Europe -- a possibility the alliance said in Chicago its political body would now study -- the North Atlantic Council must grapple with how member nations would divvy up the resultant burdens for defense, said Hans Kristensen, who directs the Federation of American Scientists’ Nuclear Information Project.

    No one is expecting that this week’s confab will come anywhere near resolving internal differences over such weighty questions. So Washington’s interest is in nudging along the discussion and, to a certain extent, allowing all sides to vent steam, a number of issue experts said.

    On the sidelines of the conference, though, NATO could make some real headway on a proposed diplomatic package aimed at engaging Russia on tactical nuclear weapons in Europe, according to sources.

    Alliance officials appear interested in teeing up proposal specifics for approval by NATO defense ministers during their next gathering in Brussels on Oct. 9 and 10, and by foreign ministers at their next meeting slated for Dec. 4 and 5, also in the Belgian capital.

    The focus is on a draft set of transparency and confidence-building measures that NATO intends to propose to Russia that could lend each side greater insight into the other’s tactical nuclear weapons posture in Europe, issue experts said this week.

    For the time being, this would be in lieu of negotiations aimed at actually reducing a lopsided standoff in Europe, seen by many in the alliance as a remnant of the Cold War.

    Following a number of unilateral reductions over the years, the United States today maintains nearly 200 nonstrategic nuclear-armed B-61 gravity bombs at six bases in five nations: Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey. Russia has an estimated 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons at bases within its own borders, according to independent tallies by nuclear experts Kristensen and Robert Norris.

    For its part, France has resisted calls for alliance-wide tactical nuclear reductions, seeking to avoid any uptick in international pressure to cut its own national arsenal of 300 nuclear arms. In the run-up to the Chicago conference, the French government succeeded in limiting the scope of pondered alliance reductions in the organization’s Deterrence and Defense Posture Review to “nuclear weapons assigned to NATO,” or, in other words, U.S. nuclear arms.

    As part of a bid to reduce its defense spending, the United Kingdom in June unilaterally committed to chopping 40 warheads from its nuclear stockpile, leaving it with 180 weapons, 120 of which would remain active.

    The Kremlin’s limited interest in tactical nuclear reductions stems largely from its reliance on atomic weapons to offset technological and numerical advantages in NATO's conventional military posture, according to officials and experts.

    “Since neither side wants to reduce its nonstrategic forces because of disparity or to compensate for conventional inferiority, NATO is now limiting itself to pursuing softer issues such as transparency and confidence-building measures,” Kristensen said at a recent conference in Switzerland. “These are important and worthwhile steps but they will not in and of themselves result in reductions of nonstrategic nuclear weapons.”

    Proposed transparency efforts might include declarations of the atomic arms that NATO and Russia have fielded on the continent, as well as possibly their storage locations, according to expert assessments.

    Confidence-building steps under possible consideration could include dialogue about nuclear doctrine or perhaps even unilateral actions to relocate or dismantle some of these arms, issue specialists say.

    NATO nations have decided, though, that they will not publicize their proposed list ahead of sharing it with the Kremlin, said Steven Pifer of the Brookings Institution. Rather than attempt to score political points, the intent is to discuss the list with Russian leaders in a quiet diplomatic effort to explore which, if any, specific initiatives might be feasible.

    The Atlantic partners have decided they do not want to “put the Russians in a corner,” but rather would pursue in good faith the potential for a new cooperative regime, Pifer said in a Tuesday interview.

    On the thornier issue of negotiating reciprocal reductions to NATO and Russian nonstrategic nuclear forces, the alliance in 2010 laid the initial groundwork for its own arsenal cuts when it “cleaned out” of its “Strategic Concept” prior references to the tactical warheads as “an essential political and military link” assuring Washington’s commitment to Europe’s defense, Kristensen said.

    NATO should not make too much of the Kremlin’s rejection to date of discussing tactical nuclear arms reductions, said Pifer, citing a quip he heard recently: “The Russians are going to say no until they say yes.”

    Internal alliance debate continues over whether NATO should accept Moscow’s desired restrictions on its missile defense plans in exchange for pullbacks or reductions in tactical atomic arms.

    “I think the Russians are playing a waiting game,” the former U.S. ambassador said, noting that Washington’s plans for ballistic missile defenses could change significantly if Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney wins the November election.

    In casual remarks heard on a live microphone in Seoul, South Korea, President Obama last March told then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he would have “more flexibility” to discuss potential missile defense options “after my election” in November. Former Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin succeeded Medvedev as president in May.

    Whether any future arms control deal on missile defenses – viewed unlikely until early next year at the soonest -- might also include nonstrategic offensive weapons has yet to be determined.

    Issue experts differ on whether any such grand bargain would be a good idea for the United States and its allies, even if Russia were willing.

    “I do not support the U.S. modifying its missile defense plans in Europe to achieve a reduction in Russian [tactical nuclear forces] because I don’t think that gambit is worth it or that it will work,” said Frank Miller, a former Defense policy official now at the Scowcroft Group.

    At the same time, he said, “it would take a political decision in Moscow that they want to take a new tack.”

    Meantime, NATO is not constrained from taking whatever action it deems necessary, in Miller’s view. The alliance statement about “reciprocity” does not actually preclude the alliance from making any unilateral changes to its deployed atomic forces as it sees fit, rather than await action from Moscow, he said in an interview.

    “Do the Russians really care about reciprocating? No,” Miller said. “Do the Russians really care about U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in Europe? No.”

    Miller also said the Kremlin is unlikely to be drawn into an agreement in which it would significantly cut its nonstrategic atomic weapons.

    “Will Russia be magnanimous and volunteer to reduce [its] forces by 50 percent?” he asked. “No.”

    http://www.nationaljournal.com/nationalsecurity/seeking-kremlin-engagement-nato-weighs-next-nuclear-posture-steps-20120913
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    Post  Viktor Fri Sep 14, 2012 6:37 pm

    Nice article, tnx for posting.

    Its worth reading.
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    Post  TheRealist Fri Sep 14, 2012 10:17 pm

    Your welcome.
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    Post  GarryB Sat Sep 15, 2012 12:09 am

    Very interesting read.

    I of course have quite a few comments to make... especially regarding the comments about unilateral moves at the end of the document.

    The Soviets withdrew all troops from eastern europe... NATO reciprocated by moving in to eastern europe right up to an including former soviet states...

    So what NATO is basically saying is that they feel uncomfortable about the assumption that Russia has about 2,000 tactical nuclear warheads while they claim they only have 200 American weapons.

    Then they admit that France has about 200 more and the UK has 200 as well.

    How about how many strategic nuclear weapons that France and the UK have?

    They are not added to US strategic warheads to be matched to Russian strategic warheads so they should be counted as extra.

    Another factor that NATO ignores is that in the middle east there are Israeli nuclear weapons, and to the east there are Chinese nuclear weapons, so if we split the 2,000 by three we get about 650 warheads pointing in each direction.

    So in actual fact despite a current significant NATO advantage in conventional weapons made rather worse by the lop sided CFE agreement the numbers are about 650 Russian nukes vs about 580 NATO nukes.

    Considering the conventional balance I would say Russia needs to make more tactical nukes.

    Another aspect I think is pertinent is the fact that NATO territory reaches right up to the border of Russia while NATO "territory" reaches across the Atlantic and indeed well out to the middle of the Pacific to the Hawaiian Islands and the US and Canada... the vast majority of which is out of range of "tactical" nuclear weapons.

    I would suggest that this makes NATO nuclear weapons... especially the US weapons... strategic nukes rather than tactical nukes, in much the same way Russian nukes deployed to Cuba would be considered strategic rather than tactical.
    I rather suspect that a significant number of Russian nukes will be at sea and will remain until the fleet has been upgraded to the point where it no longer needs them... 2025-2030 at least.
    Viktor
    Viktor


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    Post  Viktor Sat Sep 15, 2012 12:18 am

    Yes while it points out NATO hypocrisy it also shows Russia determination not to disarms tactical nukes or even think about it.

    It gives Russia deterrent in front of massive NATO buildup that would most surely occurred.

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    Post  TheRealist Sat Sep 15, 2012 11:57 am

    I believe Russia has more than just 2,000 TNW.

    This article would be interesting to read, this was published in 2001.

    http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/cc/conrad01.html

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