“Why sould the U.S. risk nuclear war over dubious chemical weapons claims?”
The exact number of nuclear warheads is a state secret and is therefore a matter of guesswork. The Federation of American Scientists estimates that Russia possesses 4,300 nuclear warheads, while the U.S. has 4,000; Russia has 1,950 active strategic nuclear warheads, compared with the U.S. having 1,650.[2] On the other hand, Russia is estimated to have roughly 1,500 tactical nuclear weapons, all of which are declared to be in central storage.[10]The RS-28 Sarmat[11] (Russian: РС-28 Сармат; NATO reporting name: SATAN 2), is a Russian liquid-fueled, MIRV-equipped, super-heavy thermonuclear armed intercontinental ballistic missile in development by the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau[11] from 2009,[12] intended to replace the previous R-36 missile.
Its large payload would allow for up to 10 heavy warheads or 15 lighter ones or up to 24 hypersonic glide vehicles Yu-71,[13][14] or a combination of warheads and massive amounts of countermeasures designed to defeat anti-missile systems;[15][16]
it was heralded by the Russian military as a response to the U.S. Prompt Global Strike.[17]
In 2015, information emerged that Russia may be developing a new nuclear torpedo, up to 100 megatons[18] , the Status-6 Ocean Multipurpose System,[19][20][21] codenamed “Kanyon” by Pentagon officials.[22][23] This weapon is designed to create a tsunami wave up to 500m tall that will radioactively contaminate a wide area on an enemy coasts with cobalt-60, and to be immune to anti-missile defense systems such as laser weapons and railguns that might disable an ICBM.[20][21][23][24][25] Two potential carrier submarines, the Project 09852 Belgorod, and the Project 09851 Khabarovsk, are new boats laid down in 2012 and 2014 respectively.[22][23][26][27] Status 6 appears to be a deterrent weapon of last resort.[25][26][27] It appears to be a torpedo-shaped robotic mini-submarine, that can travel at speeds of 185 km/h (100 kn).[25][26][28] More recent information suggests a top speed of 100 km/h (54 kn), with a range of 10,000 km (6,200 mi) and a depth maximum of 1,000 m (3,300 ft).[29] This underwater drone is cloaked by stealth technology to elude acoustic tracking devices.[20][26]
