New START Data Released: Nuclear Flatlining » FAS Strategic Security Blog. . By Hans M. Kristensen More than a year and a half after the New START Treaty between the United States and Russia entered into force on January 5, 2011, one thing is clear: they are not in a hurry to reduce their nuclear forces. Earlier today the fourth batch of so-called aggregate data was released by the U.S. During the same period, the United States and Russia have reduced their number of accountable deployed strategic warheads by 78 and 38, respectively.
With 1,499 accountable warheads on 491 deployed strategic delivery vehicles, Russia is already well below the treaty limit and is only required to scrap 84 non-deployed delivery vehicles before the treaty enters into effect in six years on February 5, 2018. The United States is well above the Russian force level, with 1,722 accountable warheads on 806 deployed strategic delivery vehicles. Russia does not have such an upload capacity. This nuclear force structure asymmetry must be addressed in the next round of U.S. 1. Global Security Newswire - U.S. Releases New START Nuke Data. PrintShareEmailTwitterFacebookLinkedIn The United States as of last month officially had 1,790 deployed strategic nuclear warheads, while Russia had fielded 1,566 long-range weapons, according to details from a semiannual information swap mandated under a strategic nuclear arms control treaty between the two countries (see GSN, Aug. 5).
The United States had 822 ICBMs, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and nuclear bombers deployed at the time of the exchange, the State Department said in a fact sheet released last week. Russia wielded 516 such launch-ready delivery vehicles. The count of U.S. bombers and ballistic missile firing platforms totaled 1,043, including fielded and reserve systems. Russia reported holding 871 bombers and missile firing platforms.
The New START pact, which entered into force on February 5, requires the sides to each reduce deployment of strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550, down from a cap of 2,200 mandated by next year under an older treaty. Start, secrets de coulisses. New START: From Russia with Glee - Keith B. Payne. The results of the data exchange on U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear weapons required under the New START treaty were released by the State Department on June 1. They demonstrate conclusively the truth of what treaty skeptics had said for months: The treaty brought the United States nothing in terms of lowered Russian force numbers. In promoting the treaty to the Senate and the American people, the Obama administration claimed that New START provided the great benefit of reducing U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear warheads by 30 percent — from 2,200 warheads each to 1,550 warheads each.
It also placed a ceiling on the number of deployed American and Russian strategic launchers (missiles and bombers) at 700 each. Both sides are required under the treaty to be at or below these ceilings by 2018. As of February 5, the day the treaty came into force, Russia already was below the ceilings mandated by the treaty both for deployed strategic nuclear launchers and for warheads. . — Keith B. Emerging into the Light | Arms Control Now: The Blog of the Arms Control Association. RS-24 Yars ICBM, Associated Press By Greg Thielmann For more than a year, U.S. analysts responsible for monitoring Russia’s nuclear arsenal have been traveling through a long and increasingly dark tunnel.
The sensitive information that had flowed out of Russia for years on strategic forces under terms of the original Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) was abruptly stanched when the treaty expired on December 5, 2009. By that time, U.S. inspectors who had been monitoring Russian strategic weapons “up close and personal” at bases and other facilities for years had to leave. In losing the treaty’s valuable constraints on Russian strategic forces and its critical treaty verification mechanisms, the United States also lost some of its most important sources of information on Russian strategic forces. As a consequence, the U.S. knowledge base on this huge potential threat started to erode. Then, on December 22, in one of the last acts of the 111th Congress, the U.S.
Like this: After New START, What Next? Daryl G. Kimball After just two years in office, the administration of President Barack Obama has put the United States back in the role of global nuclear risk-reduction leader. In April 2009, Obama recommitted the United States to the goal of a “world without nuclear weapons,” beginning with overdue reductions in U.S. and Russian stockpiles, steps to strengthen the beleaguered nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), reconsideration of the long-delayed Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), and action toward a fissile material cutoff treaty (FMCT). By last summer, Obama and his team had guided the 2010 NPT Review Conference to a successful conclusion, negotiated and signed the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and hosted a historic nuclear security summit.
Kerry and Sen. In the end, New START won the Senate’s support because it makes sense and had strong support from the U.S. military and national security establishment. Further U.S. Obama Signs START. Global Security Newswire - Medvedev Inks New START Ratification Text. PrintShareEmailTwitterFacebookLinkedIn Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today announced he had inked his country's ratification document for a new nuclear arms control treaty with the United States, Russia Today reported (see GSN, Jan. 27).
“Today I signed the ratification bill on the New START treaty. This is a very important event for our entire country, considering the understandings that Russia has with the U.S.," Medvedev said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Medvedev and President Obama signed New START last April. Russia's parliament this week approved a ratification text addressing various interpretations of the pact included in the U.S. "The Americans have come their way and we have also accomplished the process on our side and now the Russian State Duma and the Federation Council have adopted all the necessary papers," Medvedev said.
"The agenda is broad," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in the U.S. capital. US-Russia nuke treaty 'good for global stability' By He Wei and Li Xiaokun (China Daily) Updated: 2011-01-28 08:07 BEIJING - The newly approved nuclear arms reduction treaty between Moscow and Washington has limitations regarding arsenal reduction but has significant implications for US-Russian bilateral ties, Chinese experts said. "It reflects the consensus reached between the world's two biggest arsenals and elevates mutual strategic trust," said Guo Xiaobing, an arms control specialist at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. Russia's parliament approved the first nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States in nearly a decade on Wednesday, voting to ratify the pact at the center of improved ties between the former Cold War foes. The upper chamber of the Russian parliament approved the new START treaty with unanimous support from all 137 members who attended the meeting and voted.
It also requires both countries to reduce the number of their strategic missiles to 800 units. China Daily. New START and the Road to Ratification - Live Updates. After a year of debate, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) is finally approaching a final vote in the Senate that will determine the fate of the Treaty. This page will be updated throughout the process to keep you up-to-date on New START's progress and prospects. See PONI's review of arguments for and against New START here. 12/21, 11:47 p.m. New START and the Vote Count: Likely Yes Votes 57 Democrats (excluding Senator Evan Bayh who might not attend the final vote - that reduces the 2/3 requirement to 66 votes)58: Richard Lugar (R-IN) 59: Scott Brown (R-MA)60: Bob Bennett (R-UT) 61: George Voinovich (R-OH)62: Olympia Snowe (R-MA)63: Susan Collins (R-ME)64: Lamar Alexander (R-TN)65: Johnny Isakson (R-GA)66: Bob Corker (R-TN)67: Thad Cochran (R-MI)68: Lisa Murkowski (R-AL)69: Judd Gregg (R-NH) Potential Votes 70: Mark Kirk (R-IL)71: John McCain (R-AZ) In related news, recent GOP statements look like they have admitted defeat. 12/21, 10:13 a.m.
Third-ranking GOP-er backs START Sen. Senate Eyes Final START Vote Wednesday. PrintShareEmailTwitterFacebookLinkedIn By Dan Friedman and Megan Scully National Journal WASHINGTON -- The Senate looks set to ratify the New START treaty Wednesday after GOP commitments to back it appeared to ensure 67 votes to approve the treaty (see GSN, Dec. 20). Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday the chamber will vote on cloture on the arms-reduction accord with Russia during a series of votes at 2 p.m. today and may wrap up consideration Wednesday.
"There is a way clear that we can complete this sometime tomorrow," Reid said, citing conversations with Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.). Members of both parties said the White House now has enough GOP support to ensure ratification. All 58 Democrats appear set to back the agreement. "The question is not if it passes, but when it passes," said Sen. Sen. Senator Robert Bennett (R-Utah) said today he expected to back the treaty. Russian Lawmakers Could Endorse New START Within Days. The Russian State Duma could vote before 2011 to ratify a new nuclear arms control treaty with the United States, a senior member of the body said today (see GSN, Dec. 21). "If the Senate ratifies the treaty, our committee may call an emergency meeting to discuss the document," Agence France-Presse quoted Leonid Slutsky, first deputy chairman of the body's international affairs committee, as saying.
Slutsky spoke before the U.S. Senate voted to endorse the agreement (see related GSN story, today). Approval by legislatures in both nations is required to bring the pact into force. "In either case, it is much better to enter the new year with a ratified treaty in hand," the lawmaker said (Agence France-Presse, Dec. 22). Andrei Klimov, another member of the lower house of parliament's international affairs panel, also affirmed the intention to promptly approve the pact following its ratification in the United States. Senate Passes Arms Control Treaty With Russia, 71-26. New START ratified, so what's next for arms control? The Senate approved a resolution of ratification for New START on Wednesday afternoon by a 71-26 vote, signaling the Barack Obama administration's first -- and perhaps last -- major arms control legislative victory for the foreseeable future.
"I want to commend the Senators from both parties who worked to achieve this positive outcome for our country," said Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Ellen Tauscher in a statement from her hospital bed, where she is recovering from cancer surgery. "The New START treaty is another step that will help move the United States and Russia toward a world of mutual assured stability. This treaty will enhance cooperation with Russia and reinforce the global nuclear nonproliferation regime. " Vice President Joseph Biden presided over the vote. All the other Senate Republicans voted no, except for Kit Bond (R-MO), Sam Brownback (R-KS), and Jim Bunning (R-KY), all of whom missed the vote and are retiring from the Senate. Is that still the plan? New START treaty: How will next efforts for nuclear weapons reduction fare? With Wednesday’s Senate ratification of a new nuclear-arms reduction treaty with Russia, President Obama accomplished what he has said for months was his top foreign-policy priority.
Skip to next paragraph Subscribe Today to the Monitor Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS ofThe Christian Science MonitorWeekly Digital Edition The irony of Mr. With Vice President Joe Biden presiding and Secretary of State (and former senator) Hillary Rodham Clinton in attendance, the Senate voted 71 to 26 to ratify the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), achieving the two-thirds vote required to ratify a treaty. In Wednesday’s vote, 13 Republicans voted for ratification.
“The 2010 elections changed the political landscape,” says Clifford May, president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and an opponent of passage of “New START” by a lame-duck Senate. Still, some arms-control experts predict that a new middle-ground consensus, forged by the New START debate, will find wind in its sails. Mr. New START: A Win for Common Sense | Spotlight | The Stimson Center | Pragmatic Steps for Global Security.
New START: A Win for Common Sense December 22, 2010 By Michael Krepon - Exceptional performances deserve recognition, and there are many worth noting after the Senate's consent to ratifying New START with five votes to spare on December 22nd. Here's my short list: 1) The White House. Reducing nuclear dangers requires top down leadership. Vice President Biden led a well-crafted vote-getting process on Capitol Hill, which succeeded, for the first time ever, in garnering a two-thirds super-majority in the Senate against the preferences of the Minority Leader and his Republican Whip. 2) Secretaries Hillary Clinton and Robert Gates. 3) Senators Dick Lugar, John Kerry, and Harry Reid. 4) Graybeards, especially of the Republican variety. 5) Thirteen tradition-minded, yet forward-looking Republican Senators who remembered that their Party has championed nuclear arms reductions and who understood the down-side risks of torpedoing New START.
Michael Krepon is co-founder of the Stimson Center.
They want a new START. They don't want a new START. May Disable Some Submarine-Based Nuclear Arms Capacity. PrintShareEmailTwitterFacebookLinkedIn By Elaine M. Grossman Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON -- To implement the U.S. The alteration, if performed, would involve rendering unusable four ballistic missile launch tubes on each of 14 Trident submarines. "Nothing has been decided because the final force structure [under the treaty] has not been chosen," said one Defense Department official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the issue and requested anonymity in this article.
Though technical details remain uncertain regarding how the modifications would be made, U.S. officials anticipate the changes would be verifiable by Russian arms control inspectors. The partial inactivation of launch tubes would also almost certainly be reversible, allowing Washington to meet treaty caps but retain some flexibility in how its smaller nuclear arsenal is arrayed in the future, defense sources said. U.S. "That's what the Navy has to figure out," the Pentagon official said. New START's Big Winners: U.S. Nuke Complex, Pentagon, and Contractors. Passage of New START in a 14-4 vote out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is already being hailed by Democrats and arms control NGOs as a substantial victory. A floor vote for ratification is now apparently set to occur after the elections.
While ratification is by no means guaranteed, there are several clear winners already: Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Aerojet General, Alliant Techsystems, Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore nuclear weapons laboratories, Y-12 nuclear labs, the Pentagon, and Bechtel Corporation. While much noise has been made about the New START treaty’s cut to the nuclear weapons stockpile, the actual required reduction in arms may be as low as 8%, or 162 warheads out of a total of thousands.
Furthermore, keep in mind too that this only affects deployed strategic warheads, not “tactical” weapons, and not weapons in the “reserve” stockpile. So why the big deal? Here’s why in a nutshell: 1. 2. 3. A. B. 4. Democrats Christopher J. Benjamin L. Robert P. James E. 2009-11-05 - RUSSIA: MOVING BEYOND BILATERAL ISSUES, MILIBAND REOPENED DIALOGUE. Russia Outlines U.S. Violations of Arms Treaties.
Where to find information about the new START.