The United States plans to build up its nuclear deterrence capabilities and be able to simultaneously deter multiple adversaries that have their own nuclear arms, including North Korea, China, and Russia.
This is stated in the updated U.S. Nuclear Employment Strategy, provided by the Defense Department to U.S. Congress.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has submitted to Congress the unclassified Report 491, which outlines a nuclear weapons strategy updated under President Joe Biden’s directive.
The strategy directs the U.S. government to create capabilities to simultaneously respond to threats from three nuclear-armed rivals.
The updated elements of the strategy have been developed based on an analysis of past experience and the current situation in such a way that the United States is able to simultaneously deter Russia, China, and the DPRK, both in peacetime and in the event of a crisis or conflict, the report said.
The part of the report that describes the current security environment highlights Pyongyang’s continued progress in its nuclear and missile programs and emphasizes that Russia poses an acute threat, possessing a large, modern, and diversified nuclear arsenal of strategic weapons and continuing to develop new nuclear systems.
Regarding China, it is noted that the PRC has embarked on an ambitious expansion, modernization, and diversification of its nuclear forces and has created a threatening nuclear triad.
The report comes after senior U.S. officials warned that the United States would have to adjust the number of deployed U.S. nuclear capabilities if America’s potential adversaries continue on their current trajectory of building up nuclear arsenals.
Nuclear threats from North Korea, China, and Russia are back in the spotlight amid Moscow’s deepening military cooperation with both Pyongyang and Beijing in the wake of Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, China rejects accusations of accelerated expansion of its nuclear weapons arsenal and provoking a nuclear arms race, and claims that it maintains its nuclear forces at the minimum level necessary to ensure national security.
Source: U.S. preparing to simultaneously deter nuclear threats from DPRK, China, Russia - Pentagon
