A new analysis says the United States and its allies have enough conventional weapons capabilities to threaten or destroy all of Russia’s and China’s nuclear launch sites.
Two experts from SOAS University in London say Russian and Chinese nuclear launchers are actually more vulnerable than is often thought, given “the technological and numerical superiority of the United States and its allies in conventional missiles and delivery systems.”
In a new paper, professors Dan Plesch and Manuel Galileo say China and Russia have around 70 and 150 rocket launchers, respectively, in eastern Central Asia.
“Countering this are 4,400 Tomahawk and 3,500 JASSM missiles.
“The math works out in favor of the U.S. and its allies, especially given Russia and China’s overall poor detection capabilities and the gradual improvement of U.S. missile defenses.”
Only Russia’s deeply buried mobile missile systems and China’s strategic missile systems “are likely to survive a conventional missile attack,” the researchers wrote.
This US dominance, and the fact that it is generally underestimated, could threaten stability and fuel a new arms race, the authors warned.
“U.S. global conventional firepower is underestimated, which threatens both the reality and the perception of strategic stability.”