In the past decade, Russia has made a number of breakthroughs in the development of nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles, significantly outstripping Washington in several areas.
Russia and the US maintain quantitative parity in strategic weapons, whilst having different structures. However, the US leadership is extremely concerned that it lags behind Russia in the field of advanced missile defense systems. This stems from having underestimated Russian military potential and spent too heavily on armed conflicts (primarily in Afghanistan and Iraq), which ate up about $100 billion annually. After the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and the significant drawdown in Iraq, the situation is starting to change. The US defense budget for 2022 will see substantial funds allocated for development of new weapons, including strategic ones.
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