In 2002, however, Russia moved the completion date to 2004, citing lack of funding for warhead elimination. In Russia, the target date for elimination of warheads was the year 2000, and in 1999, Russia reported the job as completed for some categories and "almost" completed for the rest. Both countries have completed the regime's stated withdrawals from deployment, and the United States has also completed the elimination of warheads. Reductions (both removal to central storage and elimination) have been measured in thousands of warheads and represent the single largest reduction of nuclear warheads, surpassing all other agreements between the United States and the Soviet Union/Russia. In January 1992, the Gorbachev statement was confirmed and slightly expanded by Boris Yeltsin in the name of Russia. Namely, the Soviet Union promised to remove all categories of nuclear weapons from deployment to "central storage facilities," while maintaining the deployment of one-half of its air-based weapons between one-third and one-half of the weapons removed from deployment were scheduled for elimination. Mikhail Gorbachev responded on October 5, 1991, largely repeating the measures outlined by George Bush. approach as an opportunity to achieve its long-standing objective of reducing the number of U.S.
While the Soviet government would have preferred a formal, negotiated action on TNWs, it accepted the U.S. Prompted by mounting concern about the security of nuclear weapons in the Soviet Union, George Bush announced on Septemthat the United States would eliminate its entire worldwide inventory of ground-launched TNWs and would remove all nuclear weapons from surface ships and attack submarines. They are only subject to an informal regime created by unilateral, parallel declarations made by George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev in the fall of 1991. TNWs are the least-regulated category of nuclear weapons covered in arms control agreements. The table below contains unofficial estimates of the numbers of deployed TNWs: TNWs are also the category of weapons about which the least is known. TNWs constitute a large percentage of the arsenals of the nuclear weapon states: 30-40% of the American and Russian arsenals, nearly 100% of the Chinese and French arsenals, and all of the Israeli, Indian, and Pakistani arsenals Great Britain no longer has short-range nuclear weapons. However, these definitions are not universally accepted: France classifies all its currently deployed nuclear weapons as strategic China also classifies many weapons as strategic that in the U.S.-Russian context would be considered tactical. Tactical (nonstrategic) nuclear weapons (TNWs) typically refer to short-range weapons within the U.S.-Soviet (Russian) context, this means land-based missiles with a range of less than 500 km (about 300 miles) and air- and sea-launched weapons with a range of less than 600 km (about 400 miles). The 2000 Conference adopted a Program of Action (Next Steps) on Nuclear Disarmament, and the 2002 Preparatory Committee for the Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference reinforced that message, but practical action by nuclear weapon states still seems far away. In the last several years, a number of states have tried to push the two nuclear powers toward action in the area of TNWs. And the new perception of the usability of nuclear weapons in both Russia and the United States, albeit for different reasons, could create a dangerous precedent for other countries. Their small size, vulnerability to theft, and perceived usability make the existence of TNWs in national arsenals a risk to global security. In some respects, TNWs are more dangerous than strategic weapons. But the informal nature of the 1991 regime has resulted in considerable uncertainty with regard to implementation, as well as considerable disparity in numbers.
Though TNWs constitute a large percentage of the arsenals of the nuclear weapon states, TNWs are the least-regulated category of nuclear weapons covered in arms control agreements. Tactical (nonstrategic) nuclear weapons (TNWs) typically refer to short-range weapons, including land-based missiles with a range of less than 500 km (about 300 miles) and air- and sea-launched weapons with a range of less than 600 km (about 400 miles).
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