Importance The US withdrawal from the 1972 ABM Treaty triggered fast development and deployment of the US national anti-missile system. The cooling in relations between Russia and the USA and the West as a whole terminated the ABM talks. However, lost control over this sector may undermine strategic stability globally and bilaterally. Objectives The research examines the US policy for increasing capabilities of the national ABM system and its implications for Russia's security. The objective of the research is to analyze the role of the ABM system in the US strategy and evaluate the efficiency of some parts of the US ABM system, real achievements and problems the USA faced, and determine rising threats for Russia's security and find possible remedies. Results We demonstrate that the US military strategy implies further development of the ABM system, which is regarded as a part of the new strategic triad, i.e. high precision weapons - nuclear weapons - the ABM system. Conclusions and Relevance We conclude that, in the foreseeable future, the US ABM system will not be able to defend its territory from the Russian Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles that have split-up warheads and the anti-missile defense penetration system. Russia should find an approach to resume talks with the USA on confidence building measures in relation to the ABM, without politicizing the issues too much. It is necessary to strengthen the Northern and Pacific fleets, missile attack warning systems around Russia and develop the ABM penetration technologies.
Keywords: anti-missile defense, USA, security, threats
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