Non Strategic Nuclear Weapons - Federation of American Scientists

Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons May 2012
away in the Sea of Japan. 142 Likewise, in July 2011, two Tarantul III class corvettes from
Vladivostok Naval Base conducted an exercise that involved launching SS-N-22
missiles. 143
Many of the navy’s non-strategic weapon systems are old and probably approaching
retirement. With conventional weapons becoming more capable it is likely that new warships
will enter service with fewer nuclear weapon systems. The ones that are left might
be modified. Vice Admiral Oleg Burtsev, deputy head of the Navy General Staff, told
RIA Novosti in 2009 that, “Probably, tactical nuclear weapons [on submarines] will play a
key role in the future…Their range and precision are gradually increasing.” He concluded
that, “There is no longer any need to equip missiles with powerful nuclear warheads. We
can install low-yield warheads on existing cruise missiles.” 144
This statement caused some to speculate that Russia was about to develop a whole
new class of low-yield naval non-strategic nuclear weapons, but there is no indication of
that yet. Similarly, a statement made in September 2006 by then Defense Minister Sergei
Ivanov, that Russia at that time had eight submarines at sea (including five strategic and
three multipurpose submarines) ready to launch nuclear weapons, caused some to speculate
that Russia was still deploying non-strategic nuclear weapons at sea in peacetime. But
Mr. Ivanov appears to have been referring to the ability of the strategic submarines to
launch, as all non-strategic nuclear weapons are in storage on land.
Defense Weapons
Under the Presidential Nuclear Initiatives, the air-defense forces were slated to be reduced
by 50 percent, but appear to have been cut by 60 percent. Non-governmental experts
estimated 4,000 air-defense warheads in 1988, 145 and perhaps 3,000 remaining in
1991. 146 Many of those warheads were for the SA-5 Gammon, which has since been retired.
It is estimated that approximately 400 warheads are assigned to defensive forces,
with more in queue for dismantlement.
Non-strategic warheads for defensive forces fall into three categories: missile defense,
air-defense and coastal defense. The missile and air-defense weapons are often referred to
as strategic defense weapons, but since they are not offensive strategic nuclear forces and
Russia has included anti-aircraft weapons in declarations about the Presidential Nuclear
Initiatives, they are included here as non-strategic nuclear forces.
142 Zvezda Television, April 23, 2010, 18:05 GMT; U.S. Open Source Center, “Russian TV military reports: Navy missile
launches, V-Day parade rehearsal,” NewsEdge Document Number 201004241477.1_947400ac5b657830, April 23, 2010.
143 Moscow Rossiya 24, July 19, 2011, 7:45 GMT; U.S. Open Source Center, “TV shows navy missile launch in Russia’s Far
East,” NewsEdge Document Number 201107191477.1_558d0023b959e145, July 19, 2011.
144 “Russia should focus on tactical nuclear weapons for subs,” RIA Novosti, March 23, 2003,
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20090323/120688454.html
145 Thomas B. Cochran, et al., Nuclear Weapons Databook Volume IV: Soviet Nuclear Weapons (Harper & Row, 1989), p. 32.
146 Alexei Arbatov, “Deep Cuts and De-Alerting: A Russian Perspective,” in Harold A. Feiveson (ed.), The Nuclear Turning
Point (Brookings Institution Press, 1999), p. 319.
61 Federation of American Scientists www.FAS.org