President Barack Obama would be required to begin research and development of counter-force and countervailing U.S. responses to Russia’s reported violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty if Moscow does not become treaty-compliant before the enactment of the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act. That’s according to the House Armed Services Strategic Force’s Subcommittee’s markup of the FY 2016 NDAA, which prioritizes defensive capabilities that could be deployed in two years. The mark also requires the President to submit monthly notifications to appropriate Congressional committees about whether Russia has flight-tested, deployed or possesses a military system that has achieved an initial operating capability of a missile covered by the INF Treaty, and about whether Moscow has taken steps to return to full compliance, “including by agreeing to inspections and verification measures necessary to achieve high confidence that any covered missile system will be eliminated, as required by the INF Treaty upon its entry into force.”
The bill states the notification should not be submitted later than 30 days after Russia takes definitive steps toward compliance or continued violation. Released in July, the State Department’s 2014 “Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments” report stated Russia violated the INF Treaty by developing a ground-launched cruise missile in the Treaty’s prohibited range. The Treaty bans development and deployment of GLCMs capable of hitting ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. Russian officials have denied the claim.
Jobs