What does the Russian nuclear arsenal look like?

The Russian President, Vladimir Poutinesent a nuclear warning to the West on Tuesday over the conflict in Ukraine with the suspension of a historic nuclear arms control treaty and the announcement of the commissioning of new strategic systems, He also warned that Moscow could resume the nuclear tests.

The President of Russia has warned against nuclear fallout with increasing intensity since the first week of her invasion of Ukraine, when she put her arsenal on high alert. Since then, as the Kremlin’s “special operation” stalls in the face of resistance from kyiv, the threats have multiplied.

Although it is difficult to determine how many weapons Russia has, it is believed that the country has the largest armory in the worldfollowed by the United States.

The United States has a good number of strategic weapons from Russia, as Washington and Moscow are required to disclose under the new startthe last remaining arms control treaty and the one Putin just suspended.

All figures on nuclear weapons are estimates, but according to Federation of American ScientistsRussia has 5,977 nuclear warheadsdevices that trigger a nuclear explosion, although this includes approximately 1,500 retirees and ready to be dismantled. Other estimates speak of 6,375 warheads, compared to 5,800 in the United States.

About about 4,500 remainingmost are considered strategic nuclear weapons, which are the longest-range missiles capable of crossing oceans and threatening rival superpowers. Experts estimate that approximately 1,500 Russian warheads are currently “deployed”, that is, located on missile and bomber bases or on submarines at sea.

the rest is tactical weapons, smaller and less destructive. Some are designed for use by the navy, some for the air force, and some for the military, either in short-range surface-to-surface missiles or in surface-to-air air defenses, but they are not pre-deployed. . According to experts, these are the ones who Russia could at some point use Ukraine.

US intelligence services believe that Russia has between 1.000 there 2,000 of that tactical weapons. For its part, after careful study, the Federation of American Scientists estimated 1912 tactical weaponsalthough he warned that this could include retired warheads.

Nine countries possess nuclear weapons: China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, UNITED STATES there United Kingdom. Israel is the only country of the nine that has never officially recognized its nuclear program, but it is widely believed to have nuclear warheads.

Moscow and Washington have a 90% of all nuclear weapons that exist on the planet.

China, France, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom are also among the 191 states that have signed the agreement. Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NTP).

Under the deal, they must reduce their arsenal of nuclear warheads and, in theory, agree to eliminate them entirely. The agreement reduced the number of warheads stored in these countries since the 1970s and 1980s.

India, Israel there Pakistan has never adhered to the NPT, and North Korea he left in 2003.

Around 500 tactical nukes they would be at the disposal of the Russian Air Force, a number that includes gravity bombs and air-to-surface cruise missiles. Many of them could be dropped by planes like the bomber Tu-22 “Blowback” and the Rear Su-34″“, which Russia has already used to carry out conventional bombings in Ukraine.

However, for experts, it is more likely that Russia will use for a possible tactical nuclear attack the missile system 9K720Iskanderclassified by NATO as SS-26, a land-based ballistic missile.

As he said at Washington Post Hans KristensenDirector of the Federation of American Scientists Nuclear Information Project, this would be the Russian military’s preferred option as it deals with the system “More reliable and the one who would have the best chance of achieving his goal. Don’t get down, don’t fail”.

The power of a nuclear weapon is its yield, and yield is measured as the equivalent of DTT. The United States Department of Energy estimates that the American bombs dropped on Hiroshima there Nagasaki had yields of 15 there 21 kilotons, respectively, which is equivalent to 15,000 tons and 21,000 tons of TNT. The bombs killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people.

Modern strategic nuclear weapons have a enormous power and are designed to cause the maximum devastation.

Stallions can have yields of 500 kilotons, 800 kilotons It’s included 1 megaton, equivalent to 1 million tonnes of TNT. Russia holds the record for the most powerful weapon ever exploded: in 1961, it tested a bomb of at least 50 megatons, nicknamed the “tsar bomb”, or the queen of all bombs.

The ace tactical weapons modern systems generally have a capacity of 10 to 100 kilotonswhich makes the average tactical weapon potentially more destructive than the bombs used in Hiroshima there Nagasaki.

Russia and the United States also have nuclear weapons “low level of performance” which have a “light” impact, even less than 1 kiloton. But even the least powerful nuclear bomb, with a yield of about 0.3 kilotonshas about the same explosive power as the Beirut Port Explosion in 2020.

The extent of the destruction depends on various factors, including warhead sizehow high above the ground explode and the local environment. But even the smallest warhead could cause great loss of life and lasting consequences.

Few are expected to survive in the immediate impact zone of a nuclear explosion. After a blinding flash, a huge fireball and shock wave occurs that can destroy buildings and structures for miles.

You also have to worry about the radiationTHE radioactive waste and the poisoning long-term.

Nuclear weapons have not been used in armed confrontation since 1945. During the post-war period, powerful nuclear arsenal was only for the purpose of nuclear deterrence. This concept is axis on which the general strategy of nuclear weapons is articulated and is based on the fact that a limited number nuclear weapons can cause intolerable damage capable of deterring a potential attacker.

Russian policy also recognizes nuclear weapons only as deterrent and lists four use cases:

1) Launching ballistic missiles that attack the territory of the Russian Federation or its allies.

2) The use of nuclear weapons or other types of weapons of mass destruction against the Russian Federation or its allies.

3) An attack on critical government or military sites of the Russian Federation that threatens its nuclear capability.

4) Aggression against the Russian Federation with the use of conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is in danger.

The Russian president appeared to make reference to this last point in his threatening speech today, accusing the I WILL TAKE to stoke the conflict in the mistaken belief that he could defeat Moscow in a global confrontation.

“They intend to turn a local conflict into a phase of global confrontation,” he said. “That is exactly how we understand all of this and we will react accordingly, because in this case we talk about the existence of our country”.

Infographics: Santiago Milano.

(With information from Washington Post, Reuters and own)

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