In an article published Friday January 30th, Reuters cited the centers fact sheet on Global Nuclear Weapons Inventories. The article discusses how, despite economic hardship, Russia plans to continue to modernize its forces, which includes “a strong nuclear arsenal.”
Russia says nuclear arms to keep military edge over NATO, United States
January 30, 2015
By Reuters
The modernisation project aims to revamp Russia’s weapons systems to assure that 70-100 percent of the armed forces weapons and equipment has been modernised by the end of the decade — a plan confirmed by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
“We plan to fulfil the government armament programme and reach by 2020 the intended quantities of modern weapons systems,” he said at the meeting.
Russia keeps its state nuclear capabilities shrouded in secrecy, but its military has approximately 8,500 warheads in total, including those non-deployed — some 1,000 more than the United States possesses — according to a study last year by the Center for Arms-Control and Non-Proliferation.
Read the rest of the article on Reuters.