The U.S. should offer “total transparency” to Russia to inspect U.S. Mk 41 Vertical Launch Systems, to help resolve claims by both sides that the other violated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987, a nuclear expert said during a speech on Capitol Hill yesterday. In its 2014 report on arms control compliance, the State Department accused Russia of violating the INF Treaty, which prohibits the development or deployment of conventional or nuclear cruise missiles capable of hitting targets 500 to 5,500 kilometers away. In response, Russia counter-charged that the U.S. is violating the treaty through testing missile defense targets, developing armed drones, and deploying Mk 41 launch systems planned for stationing in Romania and Poland. The launchers in question are part of the U.S.’ Aegis Ashore missile defense shield, and U.S. officials say the land-based versions cannot launch cruise missiles to INF-prohibited distances.
“There is a major piece of hardware needed to launch cruise missiles that won’t be present on a land-based system, and it seems to me there is a new total transparency offer to be made with Russia,” Dr. James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said during a Peter Huessy Breakfast Series event. “If Russia gives the U.S. access to the suspected missiles to verify whether or not there are INF-violating systems, and oversees their destruction if they are, then the U.S. should give transparency to the Mark 41 Vertical Launch System based in Europe to verify it doesn’t contain the equipment launching for cruise missiles.”
Describing the tense bilateral dialogue, Acton said he would be surprised if Russia budges. “I don’t expect Russia to take the U.S. up on this offer,” he said. “I think it would be great if it did, and if Russia doesn’t present a credible path for getting out of this crisis, it’s part of winning this debate internationally.”
