Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
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. 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.: 115
Launch of a U.S. Army Nike Zeus missile, the first ABM system to enter widespread testing | |
| Type | Bilateral treaty |
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| Signed | 26 May 1972 |
| Location | Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR |
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| Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty at Wikisource | |
Signed in 1972, it was in force for the next 30 years. 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.