"The expiration of the New START treaty this week, which capped the amount of nuclear warheads that the two sides could deploy on bombers, submarines, and missiles, will reduce the degree oftransparency between Washington and Moscow at a moment of high tension in Europe. Without the verification processes and formal exchanges, like site visits, defense planners will find themselves in the dark."
"New START, signed in 2010 and officially enacted in 2011, was the latest in a series of nuclear arms deals between the US and Russia. It's the first time in decades that neither countries has abided by an agreement to limit the number of operational nuclear warheads. In the New START era, Washington and Moscow could deploy up to 1,550 warheads and 700 launchers."
New START, a 15-year treaty limiting deployed strategic nuclear warheads and launchers between the United States and Russia, expired this week without a replacement. The treaty had capped deployments at 1,550 warheads and 700 launchers and established verification measures including notifications and on-site inspections. Its expiration ends those verification mechanisms, reducing transparency and making defense planners less certain about the other's forces. Experts warn that lack of formal exchanges will likely lead both sides to adopt worst-case assumptions, increasing the risk of miscalculation during high tensions in Europe. The US has stated that China should be included in any future arms-control agreement.
Read at Business Insider
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