The Russian cruise missile that the United States has for years characterized as breaching the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty has been put into the field, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
The 1987 accord, sealed by the United States and then-Soviet Union, prohibits nuclear and non-nuclear ground-based ballistic missiles with flight ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. Reports that Russia had tested such a missile in violation of the treaty first appeared in late 2013, though the Obama administration had reportedly been aware of the situation for at least one year by then. Moscow has denied possessing such a weapon.
Russia has deployed the missile, which the United States has now dubbed the SSC-8, with two battalions, U.S. officials told the Times. One battalion remains at the missile test facility at Kapustin Yar, while the other in December moved from the site to an installation that is operational, a high-level U.S. source said.
In a long series of tweets on the report, nuclear nonproliferation expert Jeffrey Lewis said he believes the cruise missile in question “is the 9M729 for the Iskander-M.” It appears to be a land-deployed version of the sea-based Kalibr cruise missile, which can fly 2,500 kilometers, he said.
The U.S. Senate is not likely to approve any new U.S.-Russian nuclear arms deals until the alleged INF violation is addressed, the newspaper reported. President Donald Trump has spoken of strengthening the U.S. nuclear deterrent, but also made comments suggesting that sanctions relief for Russia might be used as a sweetener for a new strategic weapons reduction deal.
The two nations’ last such agreement, the New START treaty, requires them by next February to deploy no more than 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads on 700 delivery systems. The Trump administration would likely be tasked with deciding whether to authorize the allowed five-year extension to the treaty past its 2021 expiration.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle responded quickly to the report. In a prepared statement, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) called for decisive action by Trump following the report, including demanding an immediate session of the treaty’s Special Verification Commission. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) separately said the report demonstrates the need to increase U.S. nuclear forces in Europe.
