Arms Race Started as Putin Promises Response to the US Missile Tests. According to the Pentagon, US tested a new land-based version of the cruise missile. The missile was fired from an island in California and it struck the target 310 miles away. The INF treaty that has been recently defunct, put a ban on the tests of missiles with a range of 310 to 3,410 miles. The USA announced in February to withdraw from the INF treaty and therefore conducted the missile tests. However, Putin promises response to the US missile tests. Hence, an arms race has been started between Washington and Moscow.
The test has been conducted by the US just after the 16 days of the demise of the treaty. President Putin said to his security council that the tests just after the 16 days of the demise of the treaty show that the US was already building such missiles in violation to the treaty and it just wanted to untie its hands by withdrawing the treaty.
Putin ordered the defense and foreign ministries to analyze the level of threat by the actions of the USA and to prepare the symmetric response to the threat. He did not share the details what Russia would do, however, Russia could begin producing a land based version of Kalibar cruise missile. As a defense analyst from Russia said; “For symmetrical response, it would be enough to take Kalibr and put it on land and conduct a launch.”
The world could already see the a competition between the two rivals. The two had been involved in an arms race during the cold war, but they signed different treaties such as START, SALT, and INF to put an end to the arms race. START and SALT were already expired, the USA recently withdrew from the INF and started testing the missiles and it could start a new system in the Asia Pacific near the borders of Russia. Russia would respond by building the weapons as Putin said, Russia is building weapons with “No Equivalent.” Therefore the recent “tit for tat” strategy of both states would escalate the arms race between the two.
