The United States of America currently has 660 deployed Minuteman-III Inter-continental Ballistic Missiles, Trident-II, Submarine-launched ballistic missiles and B-2A and B-52H heavy bombers in its nuclear arsenal for deterrence.
The US Department of State, in a statement by its spokesperson, Heather Nauert, said the country also has 1393 warheads on deployed ICBMs and SLBMs and counted for deployed heavy bombers.
Nauert further said that the US had 800 deployed and non-deployed launchers of ICBMs and SLBMs, and heavy bombers.
The statement read: “Strong, safe, and effective U.S. nuclear forces underwrite effective deterrence and protect the United States, allies, and partners, and promote strategic stability.
“The transparency and predictability provided by the New START Treaty support these objectives and provide the U. S. the flexibility to modernise the U.S. nuclear deterrent.”
START – Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty – was a bilateral treaty signed between US and the defunct USSR in 1991 to reduce and limit strategic offensive arms.
On February 5, 2011, the New START Treaty between the two countries entered into force and the US said it completed its reductions and achieved these limits in August 2017.
The Department said: “Implementation of the New START Treaty enhances the safety and security of the United States and our allies and makes strategic relations between the United States and the Russian Federation more stable, transparent, and predictable.
“This is critically important at a time when trust in the relationship has deteriorated, and the threat of miscalculation and misperception has risen.”
The US and Russia would exchange data on their respective strategic nuclear arsenals within the next month, as they had done twice per year over the last seven years in accordance with the Treaty.
Through the Treaty’s verification regime, which includes short-notice, on-site inspections at military bases and facilities, US is able to verify the data provided by Russia regarding its strategic nuclear arsenal.
The verification regime provides both countries insight into each other’s strategic nuclear delivery systems, warheads, and facilities, as well as data exchanges to track the status and makeup of nuclear weapons systems.
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