Russia Is Beefing Up Its Nuclear Arsenal. Here’s What the U.S. Needs to Do

The Russian government just announced its Avangard hypersonic missile to the world—intensifying the dispute about the future of U.S. arms control agreements with Moscow. The debate playing out among national security professionals, in the media and in select precincts of Congress is over whether to extend New START Treaty, a nuclear arms reduction agreement between the U.S. and Russia that was signed and ratified in 2010 and is up for renewal in 2021.

The problem with the squabble over the fate of New START, however, is that it assumes only two potential courses of action: either extend the treaty for five years unconditionally or allow it to expire in the hope of pursuing a more far reaching pact. Members of the disarmament community are pushing for the former option while some defense hawks have expressed interest in the latter.

Russia deploys first hypersonic missiles

Russia has deployed its first hypersonic nuclear-capable missiles, with Vladimir Putin boasting that it puts his country in a class of its own.

The president described the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, which can fly at 27 times the speed of sound, as a technological breakthrough comparable to the 1957 Soviet launch of the first satellite.

Putin has said Russia’s new generation of nuclear weapons can hit almost any point in the world and evade a US-built missile shield, though some western experts have questioned how advanced some of the weapons programmes are.

Here is what experts say about Putin’s threat to aim missiles at US

Russian President Vladimir Putin in a speech on Wednesday vowed to aim missiles at Europe and the United States if President Donald Trump deploys missiles closer to Russia, in Poland and Romania.

“Russia will be forced to create and deploy types of weapons which can be used not only in respect of those territories from which the direct threat to us originates, but also in respect of those territories where the centers of decision-making are located,” said Putin, in his annual address.

Putin warns US with new missiles aimed at Western capitals

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin warned the United States against deploying new missiles in Europe, threatening to retaliate in kind by targeting Western capitals with his own new weaponry.

Delivering a state of the nation address, Putin said the US abandoned a key arms control pact – the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty – to free its hands to build new missiles and tried to shift the blame for the move on Russia.

Russia refuses to dismantle new missile, triggering U.S. exit from weapons treaty

NATO and Russia are clashing over the country’s introduction of a new medium-range missile, when 29 envoys from security alliance met with Russia in Brussels, calling on the country to destroy the missile before a Wednesday deadline.

If Russia does not comply, the United States will go through with President Donald Trump’s call to start the six-month process to pull out of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) on that deadline.

Putin Says 'Invulnerable' New Hypersonic Nuclear Missile Is Ready For Deployment

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw a test Wednesday of a new hypersonic glide vehicle, declaring that the weapon is impossible to intercept and will ensure Russia’s security for decades to come.

Speaking to Russia’s top military brass after watching the live feed of the launch of the Avangard vehicle from the Defense Ministry’s control room, Putin said the successful test was a “great success” and an “excellent New Year’s gift to the nation.”