According to American experts, most of all tactical nuclear warheads and their carriers are at the disposal of the Navy of Russia.
American journalists concluded that Russia is the owner of the world's largest arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons. A brief overview of this material represents the publication "Military case".
Currently, the world has an opinion that now the Russian Federation has from three to six thousand tactical nuclear warheads. According to the journalist, the brand of the bishoposa, it is significantly less than it was in the USSR, but still more than any other nuclear power. The author of the article in the American press is asked why Moscow is such a number of warheads?
To begin with, he made a slight digression and told his readers about what the difference between tactical and strategic nuclear weapons. Bishopos writes that strategic warheads are needed to strike infrastructure and significant enemy military facilities - cities, team centers and industrial nodes. Tactical weapons are applied directly on the battlefield. The journalist complains that due to inconsistencies between the countries and the inherent nuclear weapons of the secrecy between the above two categories there is no clear boundary. However, according to him, the United States and their allies were able to assemble enough accurate data on the tactical nuclear arsenal of Russia.
According to the American side, most tactical nuclear warheads and their carriers are at the disposal of the Russian Navy. The main type of tactical nuclear weapons of the fleet were called the Caliber Wild Rockets, which may be on board many Russian warships, including the Admiral Gorshkov frigate and atomic submarines of the type "ash-M".
Next, the author of the publication writes about Russian VKS. Potential carriers of tactical nuclear weapons are called upgraded Tu-22M3 bombers and Tu-22M3M. The hypersonic aviation complex "Dagger" was also included in this list, the carrier of which are MiG-31 interceptors. The Complex "Dagger" itself, the American journalist called "extremely difficult to interception" and can carry a tactical nuclear warhead. He told Mark Bishopos and about rumors, on which the newest Russian SU-57 fighter will also be able to obtain limited possibilities for using tactical nuclear missiles. In the Ground Forces of Russia, the operational and tactical carrier "Iskander-M" was called the potential carrier of nuclear weapons. Mark Bishopos notes that this list is far from complete, but even it is quite clearly indicating that nuclear warheads can be widely used in almost all types of armed forces of Russia.
The author stressed that the arsenal of tactical Russian nuclear weapons is quite a serious counterweight forces of the North Atlantic Alliance. According to the Bishopos, NATO has a very serious advantage in ordinary types of modern weapons, but in case of loss in a major continental war, Russia may try to correct the situation and apply their tactical nuclear warheads. He noticed that the Russian arsenal would not necessarily be considered as a tool solely to apply the first strike and attack. According to the journalist, this weapon is a guarantee of stabilization and a fracture of the current situation in case of approaching Russia's defeat in a major conflict. Bishopos also stressed that, despite the unlikely to start a large-scale war, Russia's tactical warheads can play a very significant role in the Eurasian armed conflict with China. Why he brought exactly such an example, the author did not explain.
In conclusion, Mark Bishopos writes that whatever expensive storage and maintenance in the combat state of the old Soviet heritage of tactical nuclear weapons, this is much more efficient and cost-effective for Russia than unsuccessful attempts to exceed the usual weapons of NATO countries. The author of the publication in the American press comes to the conclusion that the Russian tactical nuclear warheads are, and, most likely, will remain in the Arsenal of Russia.
Previously, it became known that the US Navy received the first "low-power" batch of W76-2 nuclear warheads for missiles.