Russian Nuclear Weapons: Past, Present, and Future

also not well enforced. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT) anticipates the eventual elimination of
all nuclear weapons. Proposals to reduce and better
control Russian and American nonstrategic weapons
regularly arise at NPT-related meetings. For example,
several delegates to the May 2010 NPT Review Conference
advocated making greater efforts to eliminate
nonstrategic weapons regardless of their range. Yet,
nuclear abolition is seen by the Russian and American
Governments as a long-term goal—the horizon
appears to be longer in Moscow—requiring stringent
conditions. Other arms control agreements—such as
those establishing nuclear-free zones or requiring that
nuclear weapons states guarantee never to use their
nuclear weapons against states not possessing them—
restrict the legally permissible use of nuclear weapons,
but they lack means to ensure compliance.
The number, status, and other characteristics of
the nonstrategic nuclear weapons stockpiles of Russia
and the United States are state secrets. Information
about the possible nonstrategic nuclear weapons of
other countries is also minimal, though all the nuclear
weapons of India, Pakistan, and North Korea appear
to have ranges below 5,500 km. Although China appears
to have some 20 intercontinental-range ballistic
missiles capable of reaching targets in North America,
the Chinese military has hundreds of nonstrategic
nuclear weapons designed for potential use around
China’s periphery as well as possibly on Chinese territory
against an invading land army (a very unlikely
contingency at present).
Although the United States had thousands of nonstrategic
nuclear systems during the Cold War, analysts
believe that the U.S. military now has only some
500 short-range nuclear weapons in its operational
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