Russia currently possesses 1,643 deployed strategic warheads, while the U.S. has 1,642, according to data exchanged between Moscow and Washington on October 1, 2014.
Even though the difference is insignificant – only one warhead – Russia’s land-based strategic forces have the kind of explosive magnitude that is greater than anything among U.S. military’s hardware.
Russia’s SS-18, which is called ‘Satan’ by the Pentagon and NATO, is capable of destroying an area the size of the New York state. The missile carries 10 warheads, each having a force of 750 to 1000 kiloton, while some of these missiles have a single ‘secret’ 20,000 kiloton warhead. To get the idea, that’s 1333 times Hiroshima.
It was also noted in the report that “80 per cent of the American population resides on the eastern and western seaboards,” which means a few “well-aimed” nuclear missiles – such as the SS-18 – can end all human life in these densely populated coastal strips.
Russia, meanwhile, has a population only half of the United States and the people are dispersed widely across the country, which means human life in Russia can easily survive first and second nuclear strikes.
