MOSCOW. March 22 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian strategic nuclear forces will remain able to ensure nuclear deterrence in future, thinks Vladimir Dvorkin, a leading scientist at the Global Economy and International Relations Institute under the Russian Academy of Sciences, and an ex-head of the Defense Ministry's 4th central research and development institute, involved in strategic weapon studies.
"Russia's nuclear deterrence potential will not reduce significantly until at least 2015, because the Strategic Missile Forces alone will still have lots of highly survivable launchers, capable of effective retaliation," Dvorkin told Interfax-Military News Agency on Wednesday.
He was asked to comment on the article published in the U.S. Foreign Affairs magazine claiming that the USA has regained the world monopoly on nuclear weapons, which was lost in 1940s, and if Washington strikes first in the nuclear war Russia will have no chances to retaliate.
According to Dvorkin, the authors of the article are exaggerating the Russian nuclear forces' incapability to ensure nuclear deterrence.
Speaking about the fact that the U.S. has more nuclear warheads and carrier means for them than Russia, he emphasized that in compliance with the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty not only Russia, but also the U.S. are to significantly reduce the nuclear forces by 2012, with 1,700-2,200 nuclear warheads available on each side.
At the same time, Dvorkin noted that the claims that Russian strategic bombers and submarines are not quite effective and the country's early warning capabilities are limited are not so untrue.
"The description of the degrading tendency of the Russian nuclear forces with the account of the present state of affairs in the national defense industry is quite reasonable," he said.