Reduction in Sub Missiles Made Up Most of U.S. Nuke Weapon Cuts in 2017

The United States reached its strategic nuclear-arms reduction obligations well in advance of a Feb. 5 deadline prescribed by the New START treaty with Russia, and a cut in deployed submarine-based missiles made up the largest reduction by missile count in 2017, according a document published Friday by the U.S. Department of State.

The State Department publishes updates on U.S. compliance with the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty on a quarterly basis. The previous update, published in October, showed the United States had met its treaty commitments as of Sept. 1. However, that notice lacked a detailed breakdown of the type of missiles the U.S. had taken out of the field in 2017 — something Friday’s update remedies.

New START requires the U.S. and Russia to cap deployed long-range warheads and delivery mechanisms at certain levels by Feb. 5 of this year. The treaty limits are: 700 deployed intercontinental- and submarine-launched ballistic missiles and heavy bombers; 1,550 fielded strategic warheads; and 800 deployed and nondeployed long-range launchers.

The treaty is in effect until 2021. The Donald Trump administration has not committed to extending the deal, according to a leaked copy of the latest U.S. Nuclear Posture Review posted online Thursday by the HuffPost.

Russia was within a dozen warheads of meeting its New START obligations as of Sept. 1, State said last year. State’s overall count of deployed warheads and delivery mechanisms has not changed since the agency’s previous update.

That said — and with the caveat that deployed warheads represent only a fraction of either country’s total stockpile — here is State’s latest count of the U.S. deployed and nondeployed strategic missiles and delivery mechanisms. The agency does not offer the same level of detail for the Russian arsenal.