In March 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly announced the development of multiple new nuclear weapon delivery systems. The announcement added a new, complex layer to an already deteriorating nuclear relationship between the United States and Russia. Since then, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty has collapsed, and the deadline to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) continues to draw closer. At such a critical juncture, understanding and following the development of the new Russian nuclear weapon delivery systems is essential for the future of arms control agreements and strategic stability policy decisions.

Please join us as Jill Hruby, NTI’s inaugural Sam Nunn Distinguished Fellow, presents a new report that analyzes the technical characteristics, deployment schedule, and military objectives of the new Russian systems, using exclusively open-source information. In addition, NTI will release a companion paper co-written by NTI experts Lynn Rusten and Mark Melamed that examines the implications of Russia’s new systems for New START and the future of U.S.-Russia arms control and strategic stability. 

Jill Hruby was named the inaugural Sam Nunn Distinguished Fellow in November 2018. She served as the director of Sandia National Laboratories from July 2015 through May 2017. During her 34 years at Sandia, she served as vice president of the Energy, Nonproliferation, and High-Consequence Security Division; leader of Sandia’s International, Homeland, and Nuclear Security Program; technical director in Materials and Engineering Sciences and in Homeland Security and Defense Systems; and held several leadership positions in materials science, weapon components, and micro-technologies.