Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Introduction: START I and Nuclear Weapons Reductions

by John Isaacs [contact information]

What is START?

The landmark 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) provided a legally-binding basis for substantial, verified reductions in the U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals. START I codified the end of the Cold War nuclear competition, reduced real and immediate dangers associated with the retention of excess nuclear weapons, and provided both sides with legal rights to verify the other’s compliance built to endure future political disputes.

START I slashed strategic nuclear forces from 1990 levels of approximately 10,000 deployed warheads for each of the two sides to no more than 6,000 warheads apiece by December 5, 2001. The accord also limited each side to 1,600 strategic delivery vehicles (land- and submarine-based ballistic missiles, plus heavy bombers) and mandated the destruction of most excess delivery systems. In addition, START I established a far-reaching system of notifications and inspections that provides an accurate assessment of the size and location of each side’s forces.

START I also prohibited interference with national technical means of intelligence (spy satellites, for example), operating in a manner consistent with the recognized principles of international law. START I bans the use of concealment measures that impede verification by national technical means.

National technical means were buttressed by a system of cooperative measures, which make it easier for satellites to monitor the numbers and locations of strategic forces. START I further banned most forms of telemetry encryption (hiding data from tests) during flight tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), which provides additional confidence that such tests are not being used for illegal purposes.

START I provided agreed procedures for the conversion or elimination of delivery systems. A special system of notifications in numerical and geographical constraints helps control the numbers and locations of mobile ICBMs.

While the U.S. and Russia reached the START I-mandated weapons ceilings back in 2001, START I still provided a channel through which U.S. and Russian military leaders, government officials, and experts can communicate, allowing them to discuss particular issues and settle disagreements. It provided U.S. and Russian political leaders with predictability and transparency about how each will handle the world’s largest and most deadly nuclear arsenals.

Current Status of the Nuclear Reduction Treaties

START expired on December 5, 2009.

The 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty, also called the Treaty of Moscow, calls for lower numbers of U.S. and Russian strategic weapons, counting only deployed long-range nuclear weapons to no more than 2,200 each by the end of 2012 However, it expires the same day the treaty limits take effect and contains no verification provisions.

Today, the United States deploys approximately 2,200 strategic nuclear warheads, with a comparable number of warheads in reserve. Russia is believed to deploy approximately 2,600 strategic nuclear warheads. Each side maintains many of these weapons on a high-alert status. It is estimated that the United States currently deploys its warheads on approximately 800 strategic delivery vehicles and Russia deploys its warheads on an estimated 600 strategic delivery vehicles. Each side also possesses additional numbers of non-strategic, “tactical” or shorter range nuclear bombs, including some 200 U.S. tactical bombs at NATO bases in Europe.

Last year, U.S. and Russian officials agreed to negotiate a new, legally-binding nuclear reductions agreement – officially called New START -- that will establish lower, verifiable limits on the two countries' strategic nuclear arsenals by year’s end. Talks on a new agreement began in April 2009.

On July 6, Presidents Obama and Medvedev agreed to a Joint Understanding on the new treaty in Moscow that would limit each side’s deployed strategic warheads to a number between 1,500 and 1,675 and each side’s strategic nuclear delivery vehicles to between 500 and 1,100. They also agreed that the new agreement would include verification, monitoring, and information exchange provisions based on principles and practices established by the 1991 START agreement.

On December 4, one day before START I was scheduled to expire, the U.S. and Russia released the following statement: “Recognizing our mutual determination to support strategic stability between the United States of America and the Russian Federation, we express our commitment, as a matter of principle, to continue to work together in the spirit of the START Treaty following its expiration, as well as our firm intention to ensure that a new treaty on strategic arms enter into force at the earliest possible date.”

After nearly a year of negotiations, Presidents Obama and Medvedev signed the New START agreement on April 8, 2010 at a ceremony in Prague, Czech Republic. The new treaty limits the U.S. and Russia to no more than 1,550 deployed strategic warheads and 800 deployed and non-deployed delivery vehicles. The treaty also includes a streamlined and updated system of verification provisions to ensure each side that the other is complying with the treaty’s limits.

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Updated version of 2009 National Security and Nonproliferation Briefing Book prepared by the Peace and Security Initiative – November 2008 – drafted by Daryl G. Kimball, Arms Control Association