The United States and its allies have enough conventional weapons capability to threaten or destroy all Russian and Chinese nuclear launch sites, new analysis suggests.
Two experts from SOAS University in London say Russian and Chinese nuclear launchers are actually more vulnerable than often considered, given "US and allies' technological and numerical advantages in conventional missiles and delivery systems".
China and Russia have 70 and 150 launchers in eastern central Asia, Professor Dan Plesch and Manuel Galileo write in a new paper.
"Against these, there are 4,400 Tomahawks and 3,500 JASSM missiles.
"Arithmetically, the numbers favour the US and allies... not least given Russia and China's overall lesser detection capabilities and incrementally improving US missile defences."
Only Russian mobile and Chinese strategic systems buried deep underground "may be considered at all survivable in the face of conventional missile attacks", they write.
https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-russia-war-news-putin-zelenskyy-latest-live-updates-12541713
