The U.S. nuclear policy stimulates Russia to improve its deterrence countermeasures. In recent years, although Russia and the United States have generally reduced the number of their respective nuclear weapons in small quantities in accordance with the provisions of the New Strat

Source: China Military Network - PLA Daily

At the beginning of this month, the Belgorod nuclear submarine used to carry the "Poseidon" nuclear powered unmanned submarine was officially included in the Russian Navy ——

US nuclear policy stimulates Russia to improve its deterrence countermeasures

■ Ye Xin

Russian Navy "Belgorod" nuclear submarine.

Russian "Poseidon" nuclear-powered unmanned submarine.

In recent years, although Russia and the United States have generally reduced the number of their respective nuclear weapons in accordance with the provisions of the " New Strategic Weapon Reduction Treaty", the two sides have continued to promote the modernization and upgrading of nuclear weapons and continuously strengthened their nuclear weapons by exchanging quality for quantity.

nuclear weapons have been introduced in new ways

In recent years, the United States has made frequent moves in the modernization and upgrading of nuclear weapons: significantly improving nuclear accusations and communication systems, accelerating the development of B-21 long-range bombers, and purchasing Colombia-class ballistic missile submarines... At the same time, NATO , led by the United States, has successively deployed anti-missile system around Russia, continuously squeezing Russia's strategic space. When conventional forces cannot effectively compete with the United States and NATO, developing asymmetric forces has become an inevitable choice for Russia to safeguard national security and interests.

The Belgorod nuclear submarine was an important means for Russia to counter the United States according to this idea. The submarine is about 184 meters long and has a displacement of 30,000 tons. It is "one of the largest nuclear submarines in the world." The "Poseidon" nuclear-powered unmanned submarine vehicle it carries looks like torpedo , can carry nuclear warhead , and can independently calculate the optimal route to hit the target. The damage range is comparable to that of intercontinental missiles, which is enough to destroy large coastal cities, naval bases and aircraft carrier formations. Underwater, the "Poseidon" nuclear-powered unmanned submarine can penetrate at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour, far exceeding the current torpedoes of countries around the world, so its attacks are almost unsolvable.

In order to deal with the United States' advantages in air-based nuclear weapons and anti-missile systems, Russia has continued to increase its capital investment in recent years and has continuously innovated in nuclear weapons technology in order to gain an asymmetric advantage. For example, the "Pioneer" strategic missile developed by Russia has a flight speed of more than Mach 20, which can approach the target from any direction and at different altitudes, effectively avoiding enemy anti-missile system detection, and achieving rapid concealed penetration.

In addition, Russia also promotes adjustment and optimization of the nuclear force structure based on changes in external threats and the current situation of national strength. On the basis of maintaining the dominant position of land-based nuclear forces, it continuously enhances the proportion of sea-based nuclear forces, while maintaining the steady development of air-based nuclear forces. It is reported that by 2050, Russia may increase the proportion of its sea-based strategic nuclear force in "Trial" strategic nuclear force to 70%.

Nuclear game continues to upgrade

Russia's pursuit of asymmetric advantages in nuclear power construction is inseparable from the transformation of US nuclear strategy . After the end of the Cold War, with the profound changes in the international security situation, the United States and Russia have changed their previous approach to nuclear arms races and focused on nuclear disarmament, nuclear arms control, and preventing nuclear proliferation.

But in recent years, the United States has regained the Cold War mentality and launched a so-called "big power competition". To this end, the United States has readjusted its relevant policies on nuclear weapons, not only arbitrarily withdrawing from arms control treaties such as the Intermediate-Fuel Treaty and the Open Sky Treaty , but also proposed to maintain the number and quality of nuclear warheads, and focus on the development of new nuclear warheads and vehicles. The United States also demonstrated its nuclear strength through daily combat readiness training activities such as nuclear exercises, strategic cruise, and missile test launch to convey clear deterrence signals.

Faced with the aggressiveness of the United States, Russia also prioritizes the development of strategic nuclear forces, and pays special attention to the development of nuclear weapons that can break through US missile defense system .In addition, Russia also emphasized the increase in containment options and further expanded deterrence measures to non-nuclear strategic weapons, and nuclear and conventional dual-use weapons. The "Dagger" hypersonic missiles, "Iskander" land-based cruise missiles, etc. that it has developed and deployed in recent years can all carry tactical nuclear warheads, which has made the United States worry about it.

The game between the United States and Russia over nuclear power can be said to be your side and we will appear. It intertwines and continues to escalate, which not only increases the difficulty of controlling the crisis, but also makes it easy for both sides to have serious misunderstandings and misjudgments.

Nuclear arms control difficulties

The United States and Russia own more than 90% of the world's nuclear weapons, and the process of nuclear disarmament of the United States and Russia has always played a vital role in the international arms control situation. However, this process has been severely impacted in recent years - the United States has successively withdrawn from the " Anti-missile Treaty" , the "Intermediate-February Treaty" and the "Open Skies Treaty", and the "New Strategic Weapon Reduction Treaty" are currently the only major arms control treaty between the United States and Russia.

After the Biden administration came to power, the United States did not fulfill its political commitment to "committed to slowing the nuclear arms race", but instead continued the Trump administration's plan to invest about $1.2 trillion in nuclear arsenal modernization projects in the next 30 years. The U.S. fiscal year 2022 budget application documents show that budget requests for nuclear modernization projects are as high as $27.7 billion. In response, Russia, which has always regarded nuclear weapons as a symbol of its status as a major power, has accelerated the modernization and upgrading of the "Trial" nuclear arsenal. By the end of this year, the proportion of modern weapons of the Russian Strategic Rocket Force is expected to exceed 86%.

At present, it seems that it is difficult for the two countries to reach a consensus on signing a new nuclear arms control treaty in the future. First of all, the United States and Russia have a series of structural contradictions in the fields of geopolitics, human rights, cybersecurity, etc. The Biden administration regards Russia as its "biggest opponent" and expresses its tough attitude towards Russia. In this atmosphere, the United States and Russia will face many difficulties in advancing nuclear arms control negotiations.

Secondly, the United States and Russia have obvious differences on nuclear arms control. For example, Russia advocates that strategic security dialogue must discuss the issue of missile defense , because offensive strategic weapons and defensive strategic weapons are inseparable, and the United States firmly refuses to impose restrictions on the development of missile defense system . Russia advocates prohibiting the placement of weapons in outer space and prohibiting the use of or threatening the use of force against objects in outer space, but the United States is unwilling to limit the weaponization of outer space in the treaty. The United States wants to talk about the tactical nuclear weapon issue, believing that Russia has an asymmetric advantage on the issue, while Russia does not respond to this. Given Russia's leading edge in the field of hypersonic weapons in recent years, the United States also hopes to include hypersonic weapons in the new treaty. Russia has always been concerned about the US's deployment of anti-missile systems in Eastern Europe, and also hopes that the new treaty can include provisions that limit the deployment of anti-missile systems.

It can be foreseen that due to the serious lack of strategic mutual trust between the United States and Russia, there are obvious differences in their positions on arms control issues, and the prospects for the two sides to conduct dialogue and negotiations on nuclear arms control are not optimistic. Maintaining global security and stability requires both sides, especially the US, to show more sincerity.