Strategicweaponscanbedividedintooffensivestrategicweaponsanddefensivestrategicweapons.①Offensivestrategicweapons.Itmainlyincludesland-basedandsubmarine-basedstrategicmissiles,missilenuclearsubmarines,strategicbombers,andspacenuclearweapons.Anoffensivestrategicweaponcomposedofland-basedandsubmarine-basedstrategicmissilesandstrategicbombers.Thenuclearchargethatcanbecarriedispowerfulandhasalongrange,andcancompletestrategicattackmissionsinashortperiodoftime.②Defensivestrategicweapons.Mainlyreferstotheanti-ballisticmissilesystem(anti-missileweapon)ofstrategicmissiles,suchastheNationalMissileDefenseSystemoftheUnitedStates.Inthe1950s,theUnitedStatesandtheSovietUnionbegantodevelopoffensivestrategicweaponsystems.Fromthe1960stothe1970s,thestrategicnuclearforcesofthetwocountriesgraduallyformedanddevelopedrapidly.Inthe1980s,bothcountriesaimedtoachievetheminiaturizationofoffensivestrategicweapons,whichgreatlyimprovedtheirdefensepenetrationcapabilities,precisionstrikecapabilities,andsurvivability.Intheearly1990s,theUnitedStatesandtheSovietUnion(Russia)begantoreduceoffensivestrategicnuclearweaponsinaccordancewiththesignedstrategicarmsreductiontreaty.CountriesintheworldwithstrategicweaponsincludetheUnitedStates,Russia,Britain,France,China,India,Pakistan,etc.Withthedevelopmentofscienceandtechnology,technicalresearchonstrategicweaponshasnotstopped.TheUnitedStates,Russiaandothercountriesarestudyingnewtypesofstrategicweaponssuchasspacecountermeasuresandanti-satelliteweapons.Strategicweaponswillstillhavethedualfunctionsofdeterrenceandactualcombatforalongtimetocome.
Publisher:ChinaMilitaryEncyclopediaEditingOffice