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

Armed Service
Air <strong>and</strong> missile
defense
~700
Number of
warheads
Delivery Systems
SA-5B <strong>and</strong> SA-10 & SH-8/11 ABM
interceptors
Air force 650 TU-22M; SU-24
Navy ~700
TU-22M; SU-24; IL-38; SLCM,
torpedos, <strong>and</strong> depth charges
Total ~2,000
Table 11-2. Estimates of Operational <strong>Tactical</strong>
<strong>Nuclear</strong> <strong>Weapons</strong> in Russia, 2010.
It is reported that the Russian government has reduced
its nuclear storage sites from 500 (in the 1990s)
to a total of 48. There exist two main categories of
TNW storage sites: The first consists of 13 storage sites
solely for TNWs, nine of them located in the European
part of Russia <strong>and</strong> four located beyond the Urals, either
in Siberia or the Far East. The second category
consists of 18 national-level nuclear weapons storage
sites at which both strategic <strong>and</strong> tactical warheads are
stored. Of these sites, 10 of them are in the European
part, four in the Urals region, <strong>and</strong> four in Siberia <strong>and</strong>
the Far East. 12 For future verification arrangements,
this complex <strong>and</strong> distributed pattern makes inspections
very difficult.
In the Russian view, TNWs are still regarded as
compensating for the weaknesses of Russian conventional
forces in the European region. Other justifications
for retaining these systems include: insurance
against further <strong>NATO</strong> enlargement; a cushion against
a possible shortfall in the Conventional Forces in Europe
(CFE) Treaty; added protection in the event of
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