"There Are Now More Deployed Nuclear Warheads In ..." Topic

…Russia Than In The U.S

"The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) that the U.S. State Department and the Obama Administration championed has been a bad deal for the U.S. Despite the fact that the U.S.'s international security obligations are vastly different from Russia's, the treaty codified that the U.S. will have the same number of nuclear warheads as Russia. Now for the first time, according to the latest New START data exchange, Russia actually has more actively deployed nuclear warheads than the U.S.

The minor Russian advantage in strategic nuclear weapons comes despite the incredible asymmetry in both countries' commitments to global security and despite Russia's 10-to-one advantage in tactical nuclear weapons systems in the European theatre. The U.S. guarantees nuclear security to about 30 nations around the world. Russia is a threat to many nations but does not extend its security guarantees to anyone else…"
Full article here
link

Amicalement
Armand

On the other hand. how many do you actually need to wipe out civilisation? Anything over that number seems pretty pointless.

What Rob (GM) said.

I'm a cop. I have a million bullets for my pistol. You're a bad guy. You have a million plus ten for your pistol. Is there really a "bullet gap"? Does it matter whether I'm protecting 30 people or only myself?

It's all about having enough to dissuade the other side from thinking they can use theirs to win a first strike. If one side keeps reducing their numbers, at some point, the other side will see an advantage.

Wiping out civilization is OK, if it's the other civilization.

Wiping out civilization (as we call it today) no problem, it the wiping out of me I have a problem with :)
Cheers all

The big thing though is that most of the missiles that the U.S. has decommissioned are the older, less effective ones. They still have enough nukes to leave a smoking hole where their enemies were!

Still, did we REALLY expect that Putin would keep up his end of the bargain? Naive!

Financially, he will have to eventually. Russia quite simply doesn't have the cash to carry on the way it is at the moment without something giving. Whether that something is quality, maintainance or the economy doesn't matter – eventually, perceived Russian military might will collapse

So when so we flood the market with oil and natural gas, depress prices, and watch the petrodollar economies of these countries collapse? Just curious.