Thanks. That does make me feel safer.
Still 16 TU-160 bombers carrying several nuclear cruise missiles could be deadly.
About half that in running condition.
A huge problem is that their engines haven't been produced in years and there are too few of them to make Kuznetsov open the lines again even if they could.
Too many engineers and workers have fled the former Soviet Union for better money in other countries like China.
The Russians in fact outnumber us slightly in NEW START strategic weapons count. Not in any significant way, but they have a whole lot more than those 16 TU-160s.
The hardware doesn’t matter because their maintenance is pathetic. Half their chit won’t run. They just don’t have the money or infrastructure to be a real super power. With oil hovering at or below $50 per barrel Russia is one bad wheat harvest away from payday loans.