... military doctrines, perceived threats and plans for the development of strategic forces, joint action against the proliferation of nuclear weapons, countering nuclear terrorism and so on.
We are witnessing the dawn of a new era in our nuclear world, a world ... ... more complex, less predictable and potentially more dangerous than the world of the 20
th
century. I would like to hope that Russia, the United States and other leading countries can get past their mutual suspicions and reproaches, understand the magnitude ...
... advanced weapons systems and military equipment that are in heightened, if not constant, combat readiness is extremely expensive. At the same time, nuclear weapons have, to some degree, become a "weapon of the poor." Given the fact that the Russian nuclear weapons enterprise and nuclear deterrence forces are in good shape, the gradual “phasing out” of non-nuclear deterrence might seem a reasonable economic measure. A different matter, in this case, is how the nuclear threats will evolve and ...
... document appears, first of all, to be an answer to possible questions from the world community and an attempt to debunk some of the myths.
The first thing, and markedly visible, is that the authors of the document repeatedly emphasize its defensive nature. Russia will use nuclear weapons only when its territory is being attacked. Paragraph 5 emphasized that nuclear weapons are considered “exclusively as a means of deterrence, their use being an extreme and compelled measure."
Despite this, Paragraph 4 of the document,...
... technology is the most sophisticated one, with main challenges related to fuels and materials required for propulsion at hypersonic speeds.
Who are the players?
Currently the most active and diverse hypersonic weapons related programs are ongoing in Russia, China and the United States. These three countries are pursuing the whole range of technologies and capabilities with tactical and strategic missions, have the best expertise, testing facilities and domestic production for most components. France,...
The European Leadership Network Report
The
European Leadership Network
Report
The UK and Russia hold pivotal roles within the Non-Proliferation Treaty regime and share a common interest in its preservation and longevity. This report offers a set of recommendations on how the UK and Russia could display leadership, create opportunities, and ...
... the crisis and thus prompt a launch-on-warning [
7
]. NATO most certainly does not need this, since it would actually be winning such a war “on points.”
The W76-2 low-yield nuclear warhead:
is officially aimed against the non-existent scenario of Russia using nuclear weapons in an act of provocation in the unrealistic event of a Russia—NATO conflict;
is unable to deter Russia’s first use of nuclear weapons in an actual crisis situation as prescribed by its nuclear doctrine;
harbours an additional destabilizing ...
The best possible next step for European countries would be to try to reach out, formally or informally, to Russia to clarify the technical parameters of the proposed moratorium
The Russian moratorium proposal
On 2
nd
February 2019, when the United States announced that it intended to withdraw from the INF Treaty on 2
nd
August, Russian President Vladimir ...
... correct. If the central link falls apart… there are already attempts to undermine the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty; Russia is already being accused of secretly conducting some tests.
The Non-Proliferation Treaty… If this system collapses, its ... ... provisions that underlie the Non-Proliferation Treaty as such. The first is the provision for non-nuclear states: you do not develop nuclear weapons, and we help you with peaceful nuclear development; the second provision ensures that we do not enshrine the five ...
... Unlike the U.S. and Russia, China has a No First Use (NFU) doctrine, saying the PLA will never use nuclear weapons first. Chinese officials say that they are uninterested in joining Russian-US agreements like INF and New START since they have fewer nuclear weapons than Russia or the U.S. They also claim, not very credibly, that their weapons do not threaten other countries. A more recent argument one hears in Beijing is that it's impractical and too complex to enlarge these treaties. The Chinese also accuse the U.S....
... Moscow and London on the Future of NPT.
Leading experts on non-proliferation and nuclear issues, former diplomats and military, officials and advisers to analytical centers of Russia and the United Kingdom discussed possible forms of dialog between Russia and the United Kingdom on nuclear issues in the group of nuclear powers in the context of the 2020 NPT Conference.
Dmitry Stefanovich, RIAC Expert, an independent expert in nuclear weapons and non-proliferation, spoke at a seminar session and presented RIAC research and analytical materials on nuclear issues. Based on the results of the workshop, in early 2020 a report with recommendations for the ministries and departments ...