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{
  "authors": [
    "James M. Acton"
  ],
  "type": "other",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [
    "Hypersonic Weapons"
  ],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "NPP",
  "programs": [
    "Nuclear Policy"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "Russia"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Security",
    "Military"
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}

Source: Getty

Other

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.

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By James M. Acton
Published on Feb 3, 2016
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Nuclear Policy

The Nuclear Policy Program works to reduce the risk of nuclear catastrophe. Our experts identify and analyze dangers, and then use our global network to advance concrete and pragmatic risk-reduction policies relating to deterrence and international security, arms control, nonproliferation, and nuclear energy.

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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

James M. Acton

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.

    Recent Work

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    Nuclear Weapons and the Future of American Power

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    The Latest Iran Deal Ignores the Lessons of the Past

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James M. Acton
Jessica T. Mathews Chair, Co-director, Nuclear Policy Program
James M. Acton
SecurityMilitaryRussia

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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