Russian Nuclear Weapons: Past, Present, and Future

of the defense system (and have the right to veto elements
of the system that could be used to track and/
or intercept Russian missiles), and be part of operating
the system (including the right to prevent launches of
interceptors against Russian missiles). The definition
of cooperation used by the George W. Bush administration
was different. The most important practical
contribution that was expected from Russia was data
from the radar it operated—from Gabala in Azerbaijan
and later from the new radar in Armavir. That is,
Russian participation would have to be passive. This
mode did not satisfy Moscow, and it was not prepared
to supply data to an American-operated system, only
to a joint one.
Proposals about a joint missile defense resumed
under the Obama administration and have recently
become a central point in Russian official and unofficial
statements on missile defense. President Dmitri
Medvedev declared recently, in response to NATO
overtures on cooperation in missile defense, that Russia
would be interested in a joint system with NATO if
the proposal was serious. 68 Former Chief of Staff of the
SRF Viktor Yesin opined that the United States and
Russia could create a joint defense system to protect
Europe against Iranian missiles and mentioned that
such a system could be configured to intercept Iranian
missiles with speeds up to 7 kilometers (km)/second
(that is, it would be classified as nonstrategic under the
1997 New York Protocols) and use data not only from
American radars, but also from radars at Gabala and
Armavir. According to Yesin, such a system could be
created after 2015. 69 Similarly, Vladimir Dvorkin wrote
that a joint system building on simulations conducted
between the United States and NATO during the last
decade is the only way to resolve the continuing con-
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