Table of Contents
WHAT IS THE INF TREATY?
The treaty was signed in December 1987 by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. The INF Treaty eliminated all nuclear and conventional missiles, as well as their launchers, with ranges of 500–1,000 kilometres (310–620 mi) (short-range) and 1,000–5,500 km (620–3,420 mi) (intermediate-range). The treaty did not cover sea-launched missiles.
THE HISTORY
It was crucial Cold War-era treaty banning development, testing and possession of short and medium range ground-launched nuclear missiles with range of 500-5,000 km. The treaty was signed in December 1987 between then US President Ronald Reagan and his USSR counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev.
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF GROUND BASED MISSILES?
- Cheap: Land based ICBMs are way cheaper to use, operate and maintain
- Ease of command and control
- Easier to develop
HAS RUSSIA VIOLATED THE TREATY?
The U.S State Department first declared Moscow had violated the treaty in July 2014. U.S. officials have since identified the 9M729 cruise missile as their main concern. NATO designated the new Russian cruise missile as the SSC-8. The United States has not released an assessment, but the missile is rumored to have a range of approximately 2,000 kilometers
HOW DOES THE CHINA FACTOR COME IN?
China is not bound by the INF Treaty and has deployed intermediate-range missiles in significant numbers Intermediate-range systems make up “approximately 95 percent” of the People’s Liberation Army missile force.
U.S CHINA TENSIONS
- U.S believes it must do something about Chinese missiles.
- It would be far cheaper for the United States to deploy ground-based systems in Asia rather than to position them on small and expensive sea- and air-based platforms. Trump may have been hinting at such reasoning in his public comments.
- However, Washington has few bases in the Pacific where it could place a ground-launched missile within range of China without consent from allies.
IMPLICATIONS OF WITHDRAWAL
- U.S – Europe Tensions will increase because European nations think INF keeps them safe
- Could have an impact on the new START treaty too
- Will start a new arms race in the region
- Tensions with China will rise further
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