Since the "#Moskva" battle cruiser sank, here is an #armscontrol story: the ship was launched in 1979. Until 1996 it was known as "Slava". In July 1989 the Slava took part in a unique, joined US-Soviet scientific collaboration: The Black Sea experiment. 1/5
2/5 The experiment tested the use of helicopter-borne neutron detectors to detect nuclear warheads on the Slava. At the time the issue of naval nuclear weapons was salient. More particularly, long range SLCM had become a contentious issue in the START negotiations.
3/5 The Black Sea experiment was part of a series, which produced mixed results: two helicopters flew by the Slava at close range (30 snd 80 meters) to detect emissions from plutonium in a warhead. Still, the political problem was ultimately solved.
4/5 In September 1991 President Bush unilaterally pledged to reduce US tactical nuclear weapons, including the removal of all warheads from surface ships, placing them in central storage. In October Gorbachev made a similar pledge: the so-called Presidential Nuclear Initiatives.
5/5 Yet, as Thomas Cochran writes (who participated in the experiment) the significance of the results of the Black Sea exercise was not in the physics but in the demonstration that even adversaries can work together in a collaborative effort to improve their relationship.
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