As of January 2009, the Russian strategic forces included
634 strategic delivery platforms,
which can carry up to 2825
nuclear warheads. The Strategic Rocket Forces
have 385 operational missile systems of four types that can carry 1357 warheads.
The strategic fleet includes 13 strategic missile
submarines. Their 172 missiles can carry 612 nuclear warheads.
Strategic aviation bomber force consists
of 77 bombers that can carry up to 856 long-range cruise missiles.
In January 2009 the space-based tier of the early
warning system included five satellites that appear operational--three on highly
elliptical orbits and two on a geostationary orbit.
A week ago, Admiral Vladimir Vysotskiy, the Navy Commander-in-Chief, told journalists that the Navy intends to keep Project 941 Typhoon submarines in service. These submarines were waiting for some kind of decision about their future since at least 2004, then...
It looks like missile defense will make for some drama at the Moscow summit next week - responding to Russia's hardening stance on missile defense the U.S. administration is making it clear that it is not ready to offer any...
For the START Plus treaty to have any chance to come into force before December, the United States and Russia would probably have to agree on the basic outline of the treaty during the upcoming visit of President Obama to...
Speaking to journalists on June 19, 2009, Vladimir Vysotskiy, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, said that the flight tests of the Bulava missile will resume "after the second half of July". Vysotskiy also said that there will be four or...
Russia's position on the link between missile defense is getting harder with each new statement on the U.S.-Russia arms control talks. In the March 2009 official statement missile defense was mentioned, but it was not included in the part of...
On June 19, 2009 Yuri Dolgorukiy, the lead ship of the Project 955 class, sailed to the sea to begin its first sea trials. Thanks to a reader, who found a nice photo of the event (I wish I knew...
As Bulava is slowly making its way through flight tests, the first Project 955 submarine, Yuri Dolgorukiy, is getting closer to actually going to sea. Its reactor was turned on in November 2008 and the submarine is expected to begin...
Speaking to journalists today, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov admitted that the flight tests of the Bulava missile will be extended into the next year. That was hardly a surprise - the problems with the program are well known and...
Russia's last plutonium production reactor, ADE-2 at Zheleznogorsk, was shut down at midnight on May 31, 2009 (at 24:00 MSK according to one report, which was 04:00, June 1st in Zheleznogorsk). The shutdown is not permanent yet - officially, the...
International Panel on Fissile Materials just published my paper on consolidation of Russia's nuclear complex. It is an overview of the current status of the nuclear complex and some suggestions on what can be done to consolidate fissile materials to...
The book
