Non Strategic Nuclear Weapons - Federation of American Scientists

Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons May 2012
consolidated most of its non-strategic nuclear warheads in central depots….” 118 The NIC
did not define “central depots” but some weapons apparently were elsewhere, probably at
air force and navy depots.
The following year, in September 2007, ITAR-TASS reported that Colonel-General
Vladimir Verkhovtsev, the head of the 12 th Main Directorate, stated that 60 percent of
the tactical nuclear weapons were done away with in the Russian anti-aircraft defense
forces, 50 percent in the air force, 30 percent in the navy, and 100 percent in the land
forces. “Today, there are no tactical nuclear weapons at all on our surface craft and submarines,”
the general stressed. 119
The news agency also included General Verkhovtsev’s statement in a report published
in late October 2007, but that report included a direct quote that Russia had “committed
itself to removing tactical nuclear weapons from ground forces completely. Those weapons
were also cut by 50 percent in the Air Force, by 60 percent in missile defense troops
and by 30 percent on nuclear submarines of the Russian Navy.” 120 General Verkhovtsev’s
use of the word “removing” weapons from ground forces as opposed to “cuts” in the other
branches hinted that elimination of nuclear warheads for ground forces had still not been
completed. The cut in nuclear warheads for missile defense troops, by contrast, was said
to be 60 percent – 10 percent more than Yeltsin had promised.
Finally, during the 2010 NPT Review Conference, the Russian government distributed
a pamphlet with a chart showing the relative reduction in its non-strategic nuclear
weapons between 1991 and 2010 (see Figure 11). The pamphlet stated that, “the Russian
arsenal of non-strategic nuclear weapons is reduced four times in comparison with the
USSR arsenal.” 121 This 75 percent reduction was the same number reported by Kislyak in
2005. Whether the 2010 pamphlet simply repeated Kislyak’s statement from 2005 or
implied that there had been no or little additional reduction in the previous five years is
unknown. But the latter seems unlikely and it did not appear to include the 10 percent
extra cut in missile defense warheads reported by Colonel-General Verkhovtsev in 2007.
Current Inventory
Estimates about Russian non-strategic nuclear weapons vary considerably and depend
to a considerable extent on estimates of how many the Soviet Union possessed in 1991.
Statements by various U.S. and Russian officials and sources suggest that the inventory at
the end of the Cold War included some 15,000-21,700 warheads.
118 U.S. National Intelligence Council, Annual Report to Congress on the Safety and Security of Russian Nuclear Facilities and Military
Forces, April 2006, p. 5,
http://www.dni.gov/electronic_reading_room/AnnualReportOnSafetyAndSecurityOfRussionNuclearFacilitiesAndMilita
ryForces.pdf
119 “RF Ready to Negotiate Reduction of Nuke Tactical Arms,” ITAR-TASS, September 3, 2007. Translation by Open
Source Center via World News Connection.
120 “Russian determined to keep tactical nuclear weapons for potential aggressors,” Pravda, October 31, 2007,
http://english.pravda.ru/russia/kremlin/99911-nuclear_arms-0
121 President of the Russian Federation, Practical Steps of the Russian Federation in the field of nuclear disarmament, May 2010, p. 8.
51 Federation of American Scientists www.FAS.org