Tupolev Tu-160 in the context of Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction

The Russian Federation is known to possess or have possessed three types of weapons of mass destruction: nuclear weapons, biological weapons, and chemical weapons. It is one of the five nuclear-weapon states recognized under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and one of the four countries wielding a nuclear triad. Russia has been alleged to violate the Biological Weapons Convention and Chemical Weapons Convention.

As of 2025, Russia's triad of deployed strategic nuclear weapons includes approximately 1,254 intercontinental ballistic missiles, 992 submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and 586 cruise missiles or bombs for delivery by Tupolev Tu-160 and Tu-95 bombers. It also possesses the world's largest arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons, approximately 1,500. Since 2022, Russia has provided tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.

A penetrator is a long-range bomber aircraft designed to intrude against and penetrate enemy defenses. The term is mostly applied to aircraft that fly at low altitude to avoid radar, a strategic counterpart to the shorter-ranged tactical interdictor designs like the TSR-2 and F-111 Aardvark. The term can be applied to any aircraft that is designed to survive over enemy airspace, and has been used for the penetration fighter designs intended to escort bombers.

The classic penetrator design is the Rockwell B-1 Lancer, where the term was first widely used. The larger Tupolev Tu-160 is also a member of this class. Other aircraft, like the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress and some versions of the F-111 have also been adapted to this role. More modern designs, like the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, can be technically classified as penetrators, but the term is not generally applied to these aircraft. The mission for the Next-Generation Bomber has been described as "penetrate and persist".

The Sukhoi Su-27 (Russian: Сухой Су-27; NATO reporting name: Flanker) is a Soviet-origin twin-engine supersonic supermaneuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. It was intended as a direct competitor for the large US fourth-generation jet fighters such as the Grumman F-14 Tomcat and McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, with 3,530-kilometre (1,910 nmi) range, heavy aircraft ordnance, sophisticated avionics and high maneuverability. The Su-27 was designed for air superiority missions, and subsequent variants are able to perform almost all aerial warfare operations. It was designed with the Mikoyan MiG-29 as its complement.

The Su-27 entered service with the Soviet Air Forces in 1985. The primary role was long range air defence against American SAC Rockwell B-1B Lancer and Boeing B-52G and H Stratofortress bombers, protecting the Soviet coast from aircraft carriers and flying long range fighter escort for Soviet heavy bombers such as the Tupolev Tu-95, Tupolev Tu-22M and Tupolev Tu-160.