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James M. Acton, Saskia Brechenmacher, Cecily Brewer, …
{
"authors": [
"James M. Acton"
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"type": "other",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
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"collections": [
"Hypersonic Weapons"
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"englishNewsletterAll": "",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"programAffiliation": "NPP",
"programs": [
"Nuclear Policy"
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"regions": [
"Russia"
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"topics": [
"Security",
"Military"
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}Source: Getty
Russia and Strategic Conventional Weapons
Russian political leaders and military strategists are growing increasingly concerned about strategic conventional weapons, particularly long-range, hypersonic weapons. Some fear that strategic conventional weapons could prove decisive in a major conflict and that Russia is lagging behind in their development.
Source: Nonproliferation Review
Russian President Vladimir Putin must have a special place in his heart for the US Conventional Prompt Global Strike (CPGS) program. Since they were first unveiled in 2006, he has publicly decried US plans to develop hypersonic, long-range, non-nuclear munitions on at least five occasions—including at such high-profile occasions as his State of the Nation address in December 2013. In that speech, he criticized the CPGS program by name and stated that, in combination with US ballistic missile defense, it “could negate all previous agreements on the limitation and reduction of strategic nuclear weapons, and disrupt the strategic balance of power.” ...
This article was originally published in Nonproliferation Review.
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About the Author
Jessica T. Mathews Chair, Co-director, Nuclear Policy Program
Acton holds the Jessica T. Mathews Chair and is co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
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