Politics | START Treaty What the START Treaty Actually Does Us-Russian treaty expected to pass today By Kevin Spak Posted Dec 22, 2010 7:51 AM CST Copied In this April 15, 1997 picture, airmen mount a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile inside an underground silo in Scottsbluff, Neb. (AP Photo/Eric Draper) START, the US’ new nuclear arms treaty with Russia, is expected to pass today, after a good bit of political wrangling. So just what does this new treaty mean? The AP breaks it down: Limits on nuclear weapons: Each side will have to reduce their ready-to-launch nuclear arsenals to a mere 1,500 warheads. That may sound like a whole lot of nuclear death, but it’s down 30% from the country’s last deal in 2002. Limits on delivery systems: Each side will be limited to 800 submarine-launched ballistic missiles, heavy bombers, and intercontinental ballistic missiles, and only 700 can be nuclear armed. Those levels are half of what the 1991 START deal laid out. Inspectors: Both sides can once again send inspectors to ensure the other side is sticking to the treaty, something that stopped a little over a year ago when an old treaty expired. The inspection system has also been revamped in ways the Obama administration says will make it cheaper and easier. What it doesn’t do: The treaty doesn’t regulate stored warheads that aren’t ready to launch, and doesn’t regulate short-range tactical nuclear weapons. President Obama says he’d like to negotiate another treaty covering both. Read These Next Her blood isn't compatible with anyone else's. Some of the most explosive Diddy allegations are dropped. NJ lifeguard survives after being impaled by an umbrella. Sprinter suffers wardrobe malfunction, still manages to win. Report an error