According to The National Interest analyst Mark Episcopos, Russian nuclear weapons “should instill terror” in members of the North Atlantic Alliance
“There is one aspect of Russian military planning that is unlikely to change any time soon: Moscow’s desire to rely on tactical nuclear weapons as a major deterrent against NATO”, – the expert writes.
According to Episkopos, most of Russia’s nuclear weapons are concentrated in the navy, such as the newest 885M Yasen-M project multipurpose submarines and the 22350 project frigate Admiral Gorshkov. The analyst also stressed that weapons stocks are not kept for offensive operations.
“Russian military doctrine views tactical nuclear warheads as a defense against NATO – not only a deterrent, but also one of Russia’s ways to play by common rules in case of an all-out war, which no one wants”, – the expert concluded.