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Standoff Over the LRSO: Assessing the long-range stand-off missile's impact on strategic stability

Heimer, Brandon W.

While there is consensus both in the executive branch and Congress on the need to recapitalize the U.S. nuclear weapons enterprise, the delivery system and W80-4 warhead proposed to comprise the LRSO have generated considerable debate. Much of the public debate has focused on its potential to affect the strategic nuclear balance and stability. This paper seeks to elucidate both Russian and Chinese perspectives on strategic stability and apply them to a systematic analysis of how the LRSO might either enhance or diminish strategic stability for the purpose of better informing the decision-making process rather than advocate a particular position on this issue.