Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO.pdf - Program on Strategic ...

First of all, the word “obligations” in this particular
context is not correct. We are speaking about onesided
initiatives of 1991-1992, which were “strictly a
matter of good will” on Russia’s side. These measures
looked not only to the reduction of tactical nuclear
weapons but to a whole series of measures in the area
of disarmament. 28
The Foreign Ministry statement went on to say
that the initiatives have been fulfilled <strong>and</strong> that one
can speak of the liquidation of “more than 50% of the
nuclear weapons for the navy’s tactical missiles <strong>and</strong>
aviation, air defense missiles, <strong>and</strong> aerial bombs” from
their total quantity, which went unstated. The statement
affirmed that Russia was fulfilling its self-imposed
responsibilities in this area <strong>and</strong> then noted that
Russia’s TNWs were deployed only in Russia proper,
unlike U.S. TNWs that were stationed in Europe. 29
There were very few official comments on the status
of TNWs, further reductions, or the development
of new delivery systems <strong>and</strong> more advanced TNWs
over the next few years. But the press did carry analytical
works relating to these issues. The current role
of TNWs, which emerged as an operational concept in
the late 1990s in association with increased tensions
between Russia <strong>and</strong> <strong>NATO</strong>, reflects a clear assumption
that Russian conventional forces at that time
<strong>and</strong> even today have limited combat utility in case of
general aggression against Russia or one of its allies.
This is due to both the reduced size of the force <strong>and</strong>
its technological obsolescence in conjunction with the
“informatization of warfare” <strong>and</strong> the possibilities created
by deep, precision-strike conventional systems
that have been demonstrated in local wars from Operation
DESERT STORM to <strong>NATO</strong>’s air operations
against Libya. Russian military theorists, particularly
129