Russia successfully tests all elements of nuclear triad

Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov informed President Vladimir Putin about practicing nuclear strike tasks.

During the meeting with the top leadership of the country, the Defence Minister gave the floor to Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. Gerasimov serves as the commander of the Russian Armed Forces in the zone of the special military operation.

In his report to President Vladimir Putin, Gerasimov said that a strategic missile submarine, a land-based mobile Yars missile system, as well as Tu-95MS strategic missile carriers were involved in the drills.

"Russia confirms its fundamental position: the use of nuclear weapons is an extreme, exceptional measure to ensure state security. At the same time, we understand very well that it is the nuclear triad that continues to be a reliable guarantor of sovereignty and security of our country <…> I am stressing this out - we are not going to get involved in a new arms race, but we will maintain nuclear forces at the level of necessary sufficiency," Putin said at the meeting.

According to the Defense Ministry, all elements of the nuclear triad were thus involved in the exercises: ground-based systems, submarine missiles, and air-launched missiles.

• A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The missile hit a target at the Kura test site in Kamchatka.
• Sineva and Bulava ballistic missiles were launched from the Novomoskovsk nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine in the Barents Sea, as well as from the Knyaz Oleg nuclear-powered submarine in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk.
• Tu-95MS long-range aircraft also took part in the drills.

The launches were controlled from the National Defense Control Center of Russia.

"The tasks envisaged during the training of the strategic deterrent forces were completed in full, all missiles reached their targets, confirming the specified characteristics," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The term 'nuclear triad' designates three components of strategic armed forces equipped with nuclear weapons.

Of all the countries in the world, it is only Russia, the United States and China that have all the components of the nuclear triad.

The strategic deterrent forces (SDF) include strategic offensive forces and strategic defensive forces. They are designed to deter aggression or defeat the aggressor, including with the use of nuclear weapons.

On the afternoon of October 29, President Putin, as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, conducted a training session of strategic nuclear deterrent forces via video link. Such training sessions are held annually.

The Russian deterrent forces have been on special combat alert since February 2022.

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The Russian Federation is known to possess or have possessed three types of weapons of mass destruction: nuclear weapons, biological weapons, and chemical weapons. It is one of the five nuclear-weapon states recognized under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and one of the four countries wielding a nuclear triad. Russia possesses a total of 5,580 nuclear warheads as of 2024, the largest confirmed stockpile of nuclear warheads in the world. Russia's deployed missiles (those actually ready to be launched) number about 1,710, also the largest confirmed strategically deployed arsenal in the world as of 2024. The remaining weapons are either in reserve stockpiles, or have been retired and are slated for dismantling. Russia's predecessor state, the Soviet Union, reached a peak stockpile of about 45,000 nuclear warheads in 1986. The number of weapons Russia may possess is currently controlled by the bilateral New START treaty with the United States.