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92-705: The 9M729 missile class was initially banned by the INF Treaty , which was signed in December 1987. By November 1990, six launchers containing 84 missiles were deployed at the Missile/Launcher Storage in Jelgava , located in Soviet Latvia . However, these launchers and missiles were subsequently destroyed. In early 2017, US officials, along with analyst Jeffrey Lewis , alleged that Russia

184-555: A 93–5 vote by the United States Senate . The treaty prohibited both parties from possessing, producing, or flight-testing ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500–5,500 km (310–3,420 mi). Possessing or producing ground-based launchers of those missiles was also prohibited. The ban extended to weapons with both nuclear and conventional warheads, but did not cover air-delivered or sea-based missiles. Existing weapons had to be destroyed, and

276-579: A Soviet proposal for a ban on all nuclear weapons by 2000, which included INF missiles in Europe. This was dismissed by the United States as a public relations stunt and countered with a phased reduction of INF launchers in Europe and Asia with the target of none by 1989. There would be no constraints on British and French nuclear forces. A series of meetings in August and September 1986 culminated in

368-812: A call which was echoed by NATO, given a perceived Western disadvantage in European nuclear forces. Leslie H. Gelb , the US Assistant Secretary of State , later recounted that Schmidt's speech pressured the US into developing a response. On 12 December 1979, following European pressure for a response to the SS-20, Western foreign and defense ministers meeting in Brussels made the NATO Double-Track Decision . The ministers argued that

460-423: A distance of about 1,500 kilometers. The missiles arrived about 15 minutes after launch. It is believed that Iran's Fattah-1 and Kheybar Shekan missiles were used, which both have a range of about 1,400 km. In order to cover large distances, ballistic missiles are usually launched into a high sub-orbital spaceflight ; for intercontinental missiles, the highest altitude ( apogee ) reached during free-flight

552-582: A distinct category from cruise missiles , which are aerodynamically guided in powered flight and thus restricted to the atmosphere. One modern pioneer ballistic missile was the A-4, commonly known as the V-2 developed by Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s under the direction of Wernher von Braun . The first successful launch of a V-2 was on October 3, 1942, and it began operation on September 6, 1944, against Paris , followed by an attack on London two days later. By

644-469: A lower throw-weight. The primary reasons to choose a depressed trajectory are to evade anti-ballistic missile systems by reducing the time available to shoot down the attacking vehicle (especially during the vulnerable burn-phase against space-based ABM systems) or a nuclear first-strike scenario. An alternate, non-military purpose for a depressed trajectory is in conjunction with the spaceplane concept with use of airbreathing jet engines , which requires

736-422: A memorandum of understanding to jointly develop ground-launched cruise missiles with a range of more than 500 kilometres. France is considering developing a new ground-launched medium-range ballistic missile with a conventional warhead and an estimated range of over 1000 Kilometers. Ballistic missile A ballistic missile (BM) is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on

828-400: A missile's warheads , reentry vehicles , self-contained dispensing mechanisms, penetration aids , and any other components that are part of the delivered payload, and not of the rocket itself (such as the launch rocket booster and launch fuel). Throw-weight may refer to any type of warhead, but in normal modern usage, it refers almost exclusively to nuclear or thermonuclear payloads. It

920-444: A new type of missile that would have violated the treaty, from an eastern NATO base. Military leaders stated the need for this new missile to stay ahead of both Russia and China, in response to Russia's continued violations of the treaty. The US withdrawal was backed by most of its NATO allies, citing years of Russian non-compliance with the treaty. In response to the withdrawal, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov invited

1012-423: A potential offensive system. The United States , then under President Jimmy Carter , initially considered its strategic nuclear weapons and nuclear-capable aircraft to be adequate counters to the SS-20 and a sufficient deterrent against possible Soviet aggression. In 1977, however, Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of West Germany argued in a speech that a Western response to the SS-20 deployment should be explored,

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1104-587: A protocol for mutual inspection was agreed upon. Each party had the right to withdraw from the treaty with six months' notice, "if it decides that extraordinary events related to the subject matter of this Treaty have jeopardized its supreme interests". By the treaty's deadline of 1 June 1991, a total of 2,692 of such weapons had been destroyed, 846 by the US and 1,846 by the Soviet Union. The following specific missiles, their launcher systems, and their transporter vehicles were destroyed: Five months prior to

1196-610: A return to the Zero Option proposal. Nitze argued that one positive consequence of the walk in the woods was that the Western European public, which had doubted American interest in arms control, became convinced that the US was participating in the INF negotiations in good faith. In early 1983, US negotiators indicated that they would support a plan beyond the Zero Option if the plan established equal rights and limits for

1288-489: A target. These weapons are powered only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) typically stay within the Earth's atmosphere , while most larger missiles travel outside the atmosphere. The type of ballistic missile with the greatest range is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The largest ICBMs are capable of full orbital flight . These missiles are in

1380-528: A vote on whether the committee should be allowed to consider the draft. On the same day, Bolton said in an interview with Reuters that the INF Treaty was a Cold War relic and he wanted to hold strategic talks with Russia about Chinese missile capabilities. Four days later at a news conference in Norway, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on Russia to comply with the treaty saying "The problem

1472-405: Is about 4,500 kilometers (2,800 mi). A ballistic missile's trajectory consists of three parts or phases : the boost phase, the mid-course phase and the terminal phase. Special systems and capabilities are required to facilitate the successful passage from one phase to the other. The boost phase is the powered flight portion, beginning with the ignition of the engines and concluding with

1564-491: Is the deployment of new Russian missiles". Putin announced on 20 November 2018 that the Kremlin was prepared to discuss the INF Treaty with Washington but would "retaliate" if the United States withdrew. Starting on 4 December 2018, the US asserted that Russia had 60 days to comply with the treaty. On 5 December 2018, Russia responded by revealing their Peresvet combat laser , stating the weapon system had been deployed with

1656-675: The MAZ 543 launcher, which is associated with the R-17 ( SS-1 'Scud B' ). It is believed that the 9M729 is a land-based variant of the Novator Kalibr cruise missile employed by the Russian Navy . Russia states a range of less than 500km, but media sources claim the missile has an actual range of 2,350 kilometers, and a reduced range of 2,000 kilometers when armed with a 500 kilogram conventional warhead. The difference could be rooted in

1748-462: The MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-4 Triton , violated the INF Treaty, which has also in turn been rejected by US officials. The US declared its intention to withdraw from the treaty on 20 October 2018, citing the previous violations of the treaty by Russia. This prompted Putin to state that Russia would not launch first in a nuclear conflict but would "annihilate" any adversary, essentially re-stating

1840-765: The Netherlands , and the United Kingdom beginning in December 1983. The Soviet Union and United States agreed to open negotiations and preliminary discussions, named the Preliminary Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Talks, which began in Geneva , Switzerland, in October 1980. The relations were strained at the time due to the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan which led America to impose sanctions against

1932-618: The Pentagon 's Asian policy under the Obama administration, said China's ability to work outside of the INF treaty had vexed policymakers in Washington, long before Trump came into office. A Politico article noted the different responses US officials gave to this issue: "either find ways to bring China into the treaty or develop new American weapons to counter it" or "negotiating a new treaty with that country". The deployment since 2016 of

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2024-485: The Reykjavík Summit between Reagan and Gorbachev on 11 and 12 October 1986. Both agreed in principle to remove INF systems from Europe and to equal global limits of 100 INF missile warheads. Gorbachev also proposed deeper and more fundamental changes in the strategic relationship. More detailed negotiations extended throughout 1987, aided by the decision of West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in August to remove

2116-531: The Russian Armed Forces as early as 2017 "as part of the state procurement program". Russia presented the 9M729 (SSC-8) missile and its technical parameters to foreign military attachés at a military briefing on 23 January 2019, held in what it said was an exercise in transparency it hoped would persuade Washington to stay in the treaty. The Russian Defence Ministry said diplomats from the US, Britain, France and Germany had been invited to attend

2208-550: The Russo-Ukrainian War . In June 2024, Russian President Putin called for resuming production of medium-range missiles. Starting from 2026, Typhon missile launcher with SM-6, Tomahawk and longer range hypersonic weapons of the United States will be deployed to Germany. This marks the return of the Tomahawk cruise missile to German territory. At the 2024 NATO summit, Poland, Germany, France and Italy signed

2300-883: The United States and the Soviet Union (and its successor state, the Russian Federation ). US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev signed the treaty on 8 December 1987. The US Senate approved the treaty on 27 May 1988, and Reagan and Gorbachev ratified it on 1 June 1988. The INF Treaty banned all of the two nations' nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic missiles , cruise missiles , and missile launchers with ranges of 500–1,000 kilometers (310–620 mi) (short medium-range) and 1,000–5,500 km (620–3,420 mi) (intermediate-range). The treaty did not apply to air- or sea-launched missiles. By May 1991,

2392-525: The Warsaw Pact had "developed a large and growing capability in nuclear systems that directly threaten Western Europe": "theater" nuclear systems (i.e., tactical nuclear weapons ). In describing this aggravated situation, the ministers made direct reference to the SS-20 featuring "significant improvements over previous systems in providing greater accuracy, more mobility, and greater range, as well as having multiple warheads". The ministers also attributed

2484-492: The collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, the United States and the Soviet Union completed the dismantling of their intermediate-range missiles on May 28 as outlined by the INF Treaty. After the collapse of the Soviet Union , the United States focused on negotiations with Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia , and Ukraine to preserve the START 1 treaty that further decreased nuclear armament. The United States considered twelve of

2576-426: The post-Soviet states to be inheritors of the treaty obligations (the three Baltic states are considered to preexist their illegal annexation by the Soviet Union in 1940).  The US did not focus immediate attention on the preservation of the INF Treaty because the disarmament of INF missiles already occurred.  Eventually, the US began negotiations to maintain the treaty in the six newly independent states of

2668-589: The "zero option sprang out of the realities of nuclear politics in Western Europe". The Soviet Union rejected the plan shortly after the US tabled it in February 1982, arguing that both the US and USSR should be able to retain intermediate-range missiles in Europe. Specifically, Soviet negotiators proposed that the number of INF missiles and aircraft deployed in Europe by each side be capped at 600 by 1985 and 300 by 1990. Concerned that this proposal would force

2760-534: The 7,400 theater nuclear warheads, 1,000 would be removed from Europe and the US would pursue bilateral negotiations with the Soviet Union intended to limit theater nuclear forces. Should these negotiations fail, NATO would modernize its own LRTNF, or intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF), by replacing US Pershing 1a missiles with 108 Pershing II launchers in West Germany and deploying 464 BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missiles (GLCMs) to Belgium , Italy ,

2852-475: The American academic Theodore Postol , the US decision to deploy its missile defense system in Europe was a violation of the treaty as they claim they could be quickly retrofitted with offensive capabilities; this accusation has in turn been rejected by US and NATO officials and academic Jeffrey Lewis . Russian experts also stated that the US usage of target missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles , such as

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2944-546: The Chinese DF-26 IRBM with a range of 4,000 km (2,500 mi) meant that US forces as far as Guam can be threatened. The United States Secretary of Defense at the time, Jim Mattis , was quoted stating that "the Chinese are stockpiling missiles because they're not bound by [the treaty] at all". Bringing an ascendant China into the treaty, or into a new comprehensive treaty including other nuclear powers,

3036-799: The Earth's atmosphere at very high velocities, on the order of 6–8 kilometers per second (22,000–29,000 km/h; 13,000–18,000 mph) at ICBM ranges. During the beginning of this phase, the missile's trajectory is still relatively well defined, though as the missile reaches the heavier layers of atmosphere it is increasingly influenced by gravity and aerodynamic drag, which can affect its landing. Ballistic missiles can be launched from fixed sites or mobile launchers, including vehicles (e.g., transporter erector launchers ), aircraft , ships , and submarines . Ballistic missiles vary widely in range and use, and are often divided into categories based on range. Various schemes are used by different countries to categorize

3128-545: The INF Treaty. Donald Trump would later abandon compliance with the treaty by the United States in October 2018. The 9M729 missile may utilize the Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) of the 9K720 Iskander missile system, where the system might be referred to as Iskander-K ; K referring to the Russian phrase for cruise missile; крылатая ракета. Other reports suggest that six missiles are carried on

3220-603: The NATO statement said that "NATO allies here share Washington's concerns and have backed the US position, thankful perhaps that it includes this short grace period during which Russia might change its mind." In 2011, Dan Blumenthal of the American Enterprise Institute wrote that the actual Russian problem with the INF Treaty was that China was not bound by it and continued to build up their own intermediate-range forces. According to Russian officials and

3312-564: The Russian complaint about the Mk41 launchers deployed by the US in Poland and Romania as part of its Aegis Ashore program. The US denies the Russian allegation, while Russia dismisses the reported range of its missile as claimed by the media. Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty ( INF Treaty ) was an arms control treaty between

3404-603: The Soviet Union ended negotiations. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher played a key role in brokering the negotiations between Reagan and new Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986 to 1987. In March 1986, negotiations between the US and the USSR resumed, covering not only the INF issue, but also the separate Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) and space issues (Nuclear and Space Talks). In late 1985, both sides were moving towards limiting INF systems in Europe and Asia. On 15 January 1986, Gorbachev announced

3496-422: The Soviet Union to deploy missiles to Europe while blocking American deployments. Nitze's proposal was relayed by Kvitsinsky to Moscow, where it was also rejected. The plan accordingly was never introduced into formal negotiations. Thomas Graham , a US negotiator, later recalled that Nitze's "walk in the woods" proposal was primarily of Nitze's own design and known beforehand only to Burns and Eugene V. Rostow ,

3588-589: The Soviets to maintain higher throw-weight than an American force with a roughly comparable number of lower-payload missiles. The missiles with the world's heaviest payloads are the Russian SS-18 and Chinese CSS-4 and as of 2017 , Russia was developing a new heavy-lift, liquid-propellant ICBM called the Sarmat . Throw-weight is normally calculated using an optimal ballistic trajectory from one point on

3680-414: The US and NATO "to assess the possibility of declaring the same moratorium on deploying intermediate-range and shorter-range equipment as we have, the same moratorium Vladimir Putin declared, saying that Russia will refrain from deploying these systems when we acquire them unless the American equipment is deployed in certain regions." This moratorium request was rejected by NATO's Stoltenberg who said that it

3772-455: The US and Russia had indicated being open to, although Russia had expressed skepticism that such an expansion could be achieved. There were contrasting opinions on the withdrawal among American lawmakers. The INF Treaty Compliance Act (H.R. 1249) was introduced to stop the United States from using Government funds to develop missiles prohibited by the treaty, while Republican senators Jim Inhofe and Jim Risch issued statements of support for

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3864-578: The US and USSR, with such limits valid worldwide, and excluded British and French missile systems (as well as those of any other third party). As a temporary measure, the US negotiators also proposed a cap of 450 deployed INF warheads around the world for both the United States and Soviet Union. In response, Soviet negotiators proposed that a plan would have to block all US INF deployments in Europe, cover both missiles and aircraft, include third parties, and focus primarily on Europe for it to gain Soviet backing. In

3956-456: The US announcing it would start to conduct research and development of weapons formerly prohibited under the treaty. Following the six-month US suspension of the INF Treaty, the Trump administration formally announced it had withdrawn from the treaty on 2 August 2019. On that day, Pompeo stated that "Russia is solely responsible for the treaty's demise". While formally ratifying a treaty requires

4048-655: The US but not other countries. The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation , Army General Yuri Baluyevsky , contemporaneously said that Russia was planning to unilaterally withdraw from the treaty in response to deployment of the NATO missile defence system in Europe and because other countries were not bound to the treaty. According to US officials, Russia violated

4140-649: The US having 75 more intermediate-range warheads in Europe than the USSR, though Soviet SS-20s were seen as more advanced and maneuverable than American GLCMs. While Kvitsinsky was skeptical that the plan would be well-received in Moscow, Nitze was optimistic about its chances in Washington. The deal ultimately found little traction in either capital. In the United States, the Office of the Secretary of Defense opposed Nitze's proposal, as it opposed any proposal that would allow

4232-477: The US insisted that a sufficient verification regime be put in place. Paul Nitze , an experienced politician and long-time presidential advisor on defense policy who had participated in the SALT talks, led the US delegation after being recruited by Secretary of State Alexander Haig . Though Nitze had backed the first SALT treaty, he opposed SALT II and had resigned from the US delegation during its negotiation. Nitze

4324-417: The US to withdraw aircraft from Europe and not deploy INF missiles, given US cooperation with existing British and French deployments, the US proposed "equal rights and limits"—the US would be permitted to match Soviet SS-20 deployments. Between 1981 and 1983, American and Soviet negotiators gathered for six rounds of talks, each two months in length—a system based on the earlier SALT talks. The US delegation

4416-537: The USSR. On 20 January 1981, Ronald Reagan was sworn into office after defeating Jimmy Carter in the 1980 United States presidential election . Formal talks began on 30 November 1981, with the US negotiators led by Reagan and those of the Soviet Union by General Secretary , Leonid Brezhnev . The core of the US negotiating position reflected the principles put forth under Carter: any limits placed on US INF capabilities, both in terms of "ceilings" and "rights", must be reciprocated with limits on Soviet systems. Additionally,

4508-709: The West) in its European territories; a mobile, concealable intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) with a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) containing three nuclear 150-kiloton warheads . The SS-20's range of 4,700–5,000 kilometers (2,900–3,100 mi) was great enough to reach Western Europe from well within Soviet territory; the range was just below the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks II (SALT II) Treaty minimum range for an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), 5,500 km (3,400 mi). The SS-20 replaced

4600-465: The Zero Option being adopted due to Soviet opposition, but the gesture was well received by the European public. In February 1982, US negotiators put forth a draft treaty containing the Zero Option and a global prohibition on intermediate- and short-range missiles, with compliance ensured via a stringent, though unspecified, verification program. Opinion within the Reagan administration on the Zero Option

4692-452: The aging SS-4 Sandal and SS-5 Skean , which were seen to pose a limited threat to Western Europe due to their poor accuracy, limited payload (one warhead), lengthy time to prepare to launch, difficulty of concealment, and a lack of mobility which exposed them to pre-emptive NATO strikes ahead of a planned attack. While the SS-4 and SS-5 were seen as defensive weapons, the SS-20 was seen as

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4784-528: The altered situation to the deployment of the Soviet Tupolev Tu-22M strategic bomber , which they believed had much greater performance than its predecessors. Furthermore, the ministers expressed concern that the Soviet Union had gained an advantage over NATO in "Long-Range Theater Nuclear Forces" (LRTNF), and also significantly increased short-range theater nuclear capacity. The Double-Track Decision involved two policy "tracks". Initially, of

4876-411: The atmosphere from space. However, in common military terminology, the term "hypersonic ballistic missile" is generally only given to those that can be maneuvered before hitting their target and don't follow a simple ballistic trajectory . Throw-weight is a measure of the effective weight of ballistic missile payloads . It is measured in kilograms or tonnes . Throw-weight equals the total weight of

4968-454: The case of some fractional-orbital capable systems) at speeds of up to 7.5 to 10 kilometres per second (4 to 5 nautical miles per second). The last phase in the missile's trajectory is the terminal or re-entry phase, beginning with the re-entry of the missile into the Earth's atmosphere (if exoatmospheric ) where atmospheric drag plays a significant part in missile trajectory, and lasts until missile impact . Re-entry vehicles re-enter

5060-521: The day prior. In a statement, Trump said there was a six-month timeline for full withdrawal and INF Treaty termination if the Russian Federation did not come back into compliance within that period. The same day, Putin announced that Russia had also suspended the INF Treaty in a 'mirror response' to Trump's decision, effective that day. The next day, Russia started work on new intermediate range (ballistic) hypersonic missiles along with land-based 3M-54 Kalibr systems (both nuclear capable ) in response to

5152-552: The director of ACDA. In a National Security Council meeting following the Nitze-Kvitsinsky walk, the proposal was received positively by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Reagan. Following protests by Perle, working within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Reagan informed Nitze that he would not back the plan. The State Department, then led by Haig, also indicated that it would not support Nitze's plan and preferred

5244-592: The end of World War II in Europe in May 1945, more than 3,000 V-2s had been launched. In addition to its use as a weapon, a vertically launched V-2 became the first human-made object to reach outer space on June 20, 1944. The R-7 Semyorka was the first intercontinental ballistic missile . The largest ballistic missile attack in history took place on 1 October 2024 when the Iranian Revolutionary Guard launched about 200 missiles at Israel ,

5336-411: The end of powered flight. The powered flight portion can last from a few tenths of seconds to several minutes and can consist of multiple rocket stages. Internal computers keep the missile aligned on a preprogrammed trajectory. On multi-stage missiles , stage separation (excluding any post-boost vehicles or MIRV bus) occurs primarily during the boost phase. The mid-course phase is the longest in

5428-725: The end of the inspection period. There were 30 total meetings with the final meeting occurring in November 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland with the United States, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine meeting to discuss compliance obligations. In February 2007, Vladimir Putin , the President of the Russian Federation , gave a speech at the Munich Security Conference in which he said the INF Treaty should be revisited to ensure security, as it only restricted Russia and

5520-444: The fall of 1983, just ahead of the scheduled deployment of US Pershing IIs and GLCMs, the United States lowered its proposed limit on global INF deployments to 420 missiles, while the Soviet Union proposed "equal reductions": if the US cancelled the planned deployment of Pershing II and GLCM systems, the Soviet Union would reduce its own INF deployment by 572 warheads. In November 1983, after the first Pershing IIs arrived in West Germany,

5612-459: The former Soviet Union that contained INF sites subject to inspection: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, with Russia being the USSR's official successor state and inheriting its nuclear arsenal. From these six countries, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine entered agreements to continue the fulfillment of the INF Treaty.  The remaining two states, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, became passive participants in

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5704-497: The four battalions was equipped with four-axle Transporter Erector Launchers (TELs), with each TEL carrying four missiles. Consequently, Russia was believed to possess a total of 64 SSC-8 missiles that could be armed with either conventional or nuclear warheads . In December 2017, the US National Security Council claimed that the 9M729 cruise missile produced by Novator was believed to be in violation of

5796-530: The joint US-West German Pershing 1a systems. Initially, Kohl had opposed the total elimination of the Pershing missiles, claiming that such a move would increase his nation's vulnerability to an attack by Warsaw Pact forces. The treaty text was finally agreed in September 1987. On 8 December 1987, the treaty was officially signed by Reagan and Gorbachev at a summit in Washington and ratified the following May in

5888-468: The missile's trajectory, beginning with the conclusion of powered flight. When the fuel is exhausted, no more thrust is provided and the missile enters free flight. During this phase the missile, now largely consisting of a warhead or payload and possibly defensive countermeasures and small propulsion systems for further alignment toward its target, will reach its highest altitude and may travel in space for thousands of kilometres (or even indefinitely, in

5980-493: The nations had eliminated 2,692 missiles, followed by 10 years of on-site verification inspections. President Donald Trump announced on 20 October 2018 that he was withdrawing the US from the treaty due to Russian non-compliance, claiming that Russia had breached the treaty by developing and deploying an intermediate-range cruise missile known as the SSC-8 ( Novator 9M729 ). The Trump administration claimed another reason for

6072-705: The negotiating deadlock. Nitze later said that his and Kvitsinsky's goal was to agree to certain concessions that would allow for a summit meeting between Brezhnev and Reagan later in 1982. Nitze's offer to Kvitsinsky was that the US would forego deployment of the Pershing II and limit the deployment of GLCMs to 75. The Soviet Union, in return, would also have to limit itself to 75 intermediate-range missile launchers in Europe and 90 in Asia. Due to each GLCM launcher containing four GLCMs and each SS-20 launcher containing three warheads, such an agreement would have resulted in

6164-517: The negotiations with approval from the other participating states due to the presence of a single inspection site in each country. Inspection of INF missile sites continued until May 31, 2001, as stipulated by the 13-year inspection agreement within the treaty. After this period, the United States and Russia continued to share national technical means of verification and notifications to ensure that each state maintained compliance. The treaty states continued to meet at Special Verification Committees after

6256-604: The policy of " Mutually Assured Destruction ". Putin claimed Russians killed in such a conflict "will go to heaven as martyrs". It was also reported that the US need to counter a Chinese arms buildup in the Pacific , including within South China Sea , was another reason for their move to withdraw, because China was not a signatory to the treaty. US officials extending back to the presidency of Barack Obama have noted this. For example, Kelly Magsamen , who helped craft

6348-644: The ranges of ballistic missiles: Long- and medium-range ballistic missiles are generally designed to deliver nuclear weapons because their payload is too limited for conventional explosives to be cost-effective in comparison to conventional bomber aircraft . A quasi-ballistic missile is a category of SRBM that is largely ballistic but can perform maneuvers in flight or make unexpected changes in direction and range. Large guided MLRS rockets with range comparable to an SRBM are sometimes categorized as quasi-ballistic missiles. Many ballistic missiles reach hypersonic speeds (i.e. Mach 5 and above) when they re-enter

6440-400: The road-mobile SS-25 and the newer RS-26 ICBMs. The US representatives briefed NATO on other Russian breaches of the INF Treaty in 2014 and 2017. In 2018, NATO formally supported the US claims and accused Russia of breaking the treaty. Russia denied the accusation and Putin said it was a pretext for the US to withdraw from the treaty. A BBC analysis of the meeting that culminated in

6532-520: The static display of the missile, but they declined. The US had previously rejected a Russian offer to do so because it said such an exercise would not allow the Americans to verify the true range of the missile. A summit between the United States and Russia on 30 January 2019 failed to find a way to preserve the treaty. The US suspended its compliance with the INF Treaty on 2 February 2019 following an announcement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

6624-562: The support of two-thirds of the members of the US Senate, because Congress has rarely acted to stop a number of presidential decisions regarding international treaties during the 20th and 21st centuries, there have been established a precedent that the president and executive branch can unilaterally withdraw from a treaty without congressional approval. On the day of the withdrawal, the US Department of Defense announced plans to test

6716-435: The surface of the Earth to another. A "minimum-energy trajectory" maximizes the total payload (throw-weight) using the available impulse of the missile. By reducing the payload weight, different trajectories can be selected, which can either increase the nominal range or decrease the total time in flight. A depressed trajectory is non-optimal, as a lower and flatter trajectory takes less time between launch and impact but has

6808-438: The treaty and played right into his hands. Similar arguments had been brought previously on 25 October 2018 by European members of NATO who urged the US "to try to bring Russia back into compliance with the treaty rather than quit it, seeking to avoid a split in the alliance that Moscow could exploit". NATO chief Stoltenberg suggested the INF Treaty could be expanded to include countries such as China and India, an idea that both

6900-449: The treaty decades prior. The Pentagon said that the data collected and lessons learned from this test would inform its future development of intermediate-range capabilities, while the Russian foreign ministry said that it was a cause for regret, and accused the United States of escalating military tensions. Numerous prominent nuclear arms control experts, including George Shultz , Richard Lugar and Sam Nunn , urged Trump to preserve

6992-487: The treaty if they were parties to it." On 26 October 2018, Russia unsuccessfully called for a vote to get the United Nations General Assembly to consider calling on Washington and Moscow to preserve and strengthen the treaty. Russia had proposed a draft resolution in the 193-member General Assembly's disarmament committee , but missed 18 October submission deadline so it instead called for

7084-460: The treaty in 2008 by testing the SSC-8 cruise missile , which has a range of 3,000 km (1,900 mi). Russia rejected the claim that their SSC-8 missiles violated the treaty, claiming that the SSC-8 has a maximum range of only 480 km (300 mi). In 2013, it was reported that Russia had tested and planned to continue testing two missiles in ways that could violate the terms of the treaty:

7176-521: The treaty, while China itself is not bound by it. On the same day, a report in Politico suggested that China was "the real target of the [pull out]". It was estimated that 90% of China's ground missile arsenal would be outlawed if China were a party to the treaty. Bolton said in an interview with Elena Chernenko from the Russian newspaper Kommersant on 22 October 2018: "we see China, Iran , North Korea all developing capabilities which would violate

7268-524: The treaty. Gorbachev criticized Trump's nuclear treaty withdrawal as "not the work of a great mind" and stated "a new arms race has been announced". The decision was criticized by the chairmen of the House Committees on Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Eliot Engel and Adam Smith , who said that instead of crafting a plan to hold Russia accountable and pressure it into compliance, the Trump administration had offered Putin an easy way out of

7360-508: The two sides over these two years. A US effort to separate the question of nuclear-capable aircraft from that of intermediate-range missiles successfully focused attention on the latter, but little clear progress on the subject was made. In the summer of 1982, Nitze and Kvitsinsky took a "walk in the woods" in the Jura Mountains , away from formal negotiations in Geneva, in an independent attempt to bypass bureaucratic procedures and break

7452-499: The withdrawal was to counter a Chinese arms buildup in the Pacific , including within the South China Sea , as China was not a signatory to the treaty. The US formally suspended the treaty on 1 February 2019, and Russia did so on the following day in response. The United States formally withdrew from the treaty on 2 August 2019. In March 1976, the Soviet Union first deployed the RSD-10 Pioneer (called SS-20 Saber in

7544-557: The withdrawal. On 8 March 2019, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine announced that since the United States and Russia had both pulled out of the treaty, it now had the right to develop intermediate-range missiles, citing Russian aggression against Ukraine as a serious threat to the European continent, and the presence of Russian Iskander-M nuclear-capable missile systems in Russian-annexed Crimea . Ukraine

7636-740: Was also then a member of the Committee on the Present Danger , a firmly anti-Soviet group composed of conservative Republicans . Yuli Kvitsinsky, the second-ranking official at the Soviet embassy in West Germany, headed the Soviet delegation. On 18 November 1981, shortly before the beginning of formal talks, Reagan made the Zero Option or "zero-zero" proposal. It called for a hold on US deployment of GLCM and Pershing II systems, reciprocated by Soviet elimination of its SS-4, SS-5, and SS-20 missiles. There appeared to be little chance of

7728-621: Was believed to be stationed at Kapustin Yar near Volgograd , while the location of the other battalion remained unknown at the time. In February 2019, the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that, in addition to the known missile and battalion locations, namely the launch pad at Kapustin Yar and Yekaterinburg , two more sites were equipped with these missiles: Mozdok in North Ossetia and Shuya near Moscow . Each of

7820-588: Was composed of Nitze, Major General William F. Burns of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , Thomas Graham of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA), and officials from the US Department of State , Office of the Secretary of Defense , and US National Security Council . Colonel Norman Clyne, a SALT talks participant, served as Nitze's chief of staff . There was little convergence between

7912-516: Was further complicated by complex relationships between China, India , and Pakistan . The Chinese Foreign Ministry said a unilateral US withdrawal would have a negative impact and urged the US to "think thrice before acting". On 23 October 2018, John R. Bolton , the US National Security Advisor , said on the Russian radio station Echo of Moscow that recent Chinese statements indicate that it wants Washington to stay in

8004-450: Was home to about forty percent of the Soviet space industry, but was never allowed to develop a missile with the range to strike Moscow, only having both longer and shorter-ranged missiles, but it has the capability to develop intermediate-range missiles. After the United States withdrew from the treaty, some American commentators wrote that this might allow the country to more effectively counter Russia and China's missile forces. This

8096-649: Was later followed by the development and deployment of the Typhon Medium Range Capability weapon system in 2023. According to Brazilian journalist Augusto Dall'Agnol, the INF Treaty's demise also needs to be understood in the broader context of the gradual erosion of the strategic arms control regime that started with the US withdrawal from the ABM Treaty in 2002 amidst Russia's objections. In late 2023 and early 2024, Russia used North Korean Hwasong-11A and/or Hwasong-11B missiles in

8188-477: Was mixed. Richard Perle , then the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs , was the architect of the plan. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger , who supported a continued US nuclear presence in Europe, was skeptical of the plan, though eventually accepted it for its value in putting the Soviet Union "on the defensive in the European propaganda war". Reagan later recounted that

8280-531: Was not credible as Moscow had already deployed such warheads. On 5 August 2019, Putin stated, "As of August 2, 2019, the INF Treaty no longer exists. Our US colleagues sent it to the archives, making it a thing of the past." On 18 August 2019, the US conducted a test firing of a missile that would not have been allowed under the treaty; a ground-based version of the Tomahawk , similar to the BGM-109G banned by

8372-464: Was once also a consideration in the design of naval ships and the number and size of their guns. Throw-weight was used as a criterion in classifying different types of missiles during Strategic Arms Limitation Talks between the Soviet Union and the United States . The term became politically controversial during debates over the arms control accord, as critics of the treaty alleged that Soviet missiles were able to carry larger payloads and so enabled

8464-548: Was violating the INF Treaty through the deployment of the 9M728 (SSC-7) and 9M729 (SSC-8) missiles as part of the Iskander missile system . These missiles were regarded as variants of the earlier SS-C-4 . According to US officials, two missile battalions equipped with the SSC-8 missiles were deployed by February 14, 2017, in violation of the INF Treaty. Each battalion was composed of four launchers, with each launcher carrying potentially nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. One battalion

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