Soviet Union defensive capability

The Soviet Union is considered to be well-equipped in the chemical warfare area. Evidence of delivery systems, weapons development, protective systems, realistic operational training, and extensive civil defence training support the existence of a Soviet capability to operate in a toxic environment which exceeds that of the US or our NATO allies. .. I would be less than candid, however, if I did not state that the question remains as to whether the Soviet Union s capability represents its keeping open an option to initiate offensive chemical warfare operations or is merely a hedge against the possibility that the US might use chemical warfare and is therefore a deterrent and a defensive capability. . 

Based on this evidence, senior defense department personnel concluded that the Soviet Union possesses a decisive military advantage because of its chemical capabilities. 167(p3)... 

Inevitably, there is a trickle-down effect in the arms world, as aging munitions and weapons systems are replaced and move from the major weapons producers to their Third World client states, and from the latter to other nations. For example, the Soviet Union probably supplied a chemical warfare capability to Egypt,11 which, in turn, first supplied Syria,15 which, in turn, supplied Iran.16 It should be noted that some weapons systems, especially from the former Eastern Bloc countries, were designed to operate in a chemical warfare theater.9 As noted earlier, a defensive capability is generally held to... 

The Soviet Union has the capability to deliver chemical munitions in ground, air, and naval combat. Just as in the Second World War, Soviet armed forces maintain a wide variety of potential delivery systems, including aerial bombs, spray tanks, tactical missiles, mines, rockets, artillery and mortar projectiles. The Department of Defense claims not only that the Soviets have such systems but that they have also developed the firing data on the utility of chemical weapons in battle situations , that is... 

J. Erickson, The Soviet Union s Growing Arsenal of Chemical Warfare , Strategic Review, vol. 7, no. 4 (Fall, 1979) p. 65 C. J. Dick, Soviet Chemical Warfare Capabilities , Internatioruil Defense Review, vol. 14, no. 1 (1981) p. 32. 

US Department of Defense, Continuing Development of Chemical Weapons Capabilities in the USSR, (October 1983) p. 17. Segal puts this number at over 100,000. David Segal, The Soviet Union s Mighty Chemical Warfare Machine, drrny 37 (August 1987) p. 27. 

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