Russia urged to make ICBMs

A Russian expert says his country should make as many as 30 missiles a year to maintain a strategic nuclear balance with the United States.

Alexei Arbatov, head of the international security center at the Russian Academy of Sciences, told RIA-Novosti news agency that at the current rate of six to eight Topol-M missiles a year, Russia would have only 150 such missiles and three nuclear submarines in the next decade. The Topol-M is designed to penetrate anti-missile defense systems.

Under current agreement, Russia and the United States would reduce their total number of warheads to 1,700-2,200 by Dec. 31, 2012.

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