Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty

Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
	Launch of a U.S. Army Nike Zeus missile, the first ABM system to enter widespread testing
Type	Bilateral treaty
Signed	26 May 1972
Location	Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR
Signatories	Richard Nixon; Leonid Brezhnev;
Parties	United States; Soviet Union/ Russia;
Ratifiers	United States Senate; Supreme Soviet;
Full text
	Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty at Wikisource

The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, also known as the ABM Treaty or ABMT, was an arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems used in defending areas against ballistic missile-delivered nuclear weapons. It was intended to reduce pressures to build more nuclear weapons to maintain deterrence.^[1] Under the terms of the treaty, each party was limited to two ABM complexes, each of which was to be limited to 100 anti-ballistic missiles.^[2]^: 115

Signed in 1972, it was in force for the next 30 years.^[3] In 1997, five years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, four former Soviet republics agreed with the United States to succeed the USSR's role in the treaty. Citing risks of nuclear blackmail, the United States withdrew from the treaty in June 2002, leading to its termination.

^ Acton, James M. (13 December 2021). "The U.S. Exit From the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty Has Fueled a New Arms Race". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
^ Nash, Henry T. (1 May 1975). Nuclear Weapons and International Behaviour. Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-9028602656 – via Internet Archive. p. 115: Each site would consist of 100 ABMs, or a total of 200 ABMs for each country
^ "Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems". Bureau of Arms Control. United States Department of State. 26 May 1972. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.

[1] Acton, James M. (13 December 2021). "The U.S. Exit From the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty Has Fueled a New Arms Race". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.

[2] Nash, Henry T. (1 May 1975). Nuclear Weapons and International Behaviour. Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-9028602656 – via Internet Archive. p. 115: Each site would consist of 100 ABMs, or a total of 200 ABMs for each country

[3] "Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems". Bureau of Arms Control. United States Department of State. 26 May 1972. Archived from the original on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.

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