An interesting article published today focuses on the respective states of the US and Russia's strategic nuclear submarines.
In a piece for analytical platform Riddle, which focuses on Russian affairs, political scientist and expert on Russia's armed forces Pavel Luzin, describes how the Kremlin is artificially inflating the numbers of its nuclear carriers.
He explains that while Moscow officially claims to have 13 strategic submarines, evidence from a range of sources indicates it only has eight in a best-case scenario in practice - but that only six "can be reliably claimed to be ready to fulfil their missions".
Others among an ageing fleet that the Kremlin purports are still in service - some of which Mr Luzin says have been "fraught with bizarre events" - are effectively "zombie" submarines and are almost certainly no longer operational.
Meanwhile, he says, 13 of the 14 strategic submarines in the US fleet "are ready for their intended missions".
Mr Luzin concludes: "Moscow is at pains to cling to the idea of nuclear parity with the United States as the basis of its foreign and domestic policy, but the idea of parity is already dead in reality."
https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-russia-war-latest-12541713
just like the military in Ukraine - the emperor has no clothes !
