US seeks to expand nuclear deployment

In the coming years, Washington may be forced to expand the deployment of strategic nuclear forces to deter threats from opponents.

Pranay Vaddi, Senior Director for Arms Control, Disarmament, and Nonproliferation at the National Security Council said that Russia, China and North Korea were the opponents in this regard.

Vaddi stressed that the United States adhered to the international non-proliferation regime.

But he recalled that Russia had refused to discuss a treaty that would replace the Strategic Offensive Arms Reduction Agreement (START-3) ending in 2026, and China didn’t want to negotiate its growing nuclear arsenal.

“We can reach a point where it will be necessary to expand the number of deployed weapons to deter our adversaries to protect the American people and our allies and partners,” Vaddi said.

U.S. President Joe Biden has reportedly signed an updated strategy on the terms of U.S. use of nuclear weapons.

“The President recently signed updated guidelines on the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons, which take into account the realities of the new nuclear era. They noted the need to take into account the growth and diversity of the PRC’s nuclear arsenal, as well as the need to contain Russia, PRC and North Korea at the same time,” said Pranay Vaddi.

In April, it became known that the United States had been planning to start producing new nuclear warheads for the first time in 40 years.

In the future, new nuclear warheads should become part of Trident D5 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in submarines.

To speed up development and reduce costs, the new warhead will be based on already developed technologies and solutions used in past models.

Currently, ICBMs on submarines can use W76 and W88 nuclear warheads available in the U.S. arsenal. But they are more than 25 years old, and there are concerns about their safety.

In parallel, the United States constantly extends the life of these warheads, which creates additional threats to their reliability.