WASHINGTON • The US military wants to revamp its nuclear arsenal and develop new low-yield atomic bombs, largely in response to Russian actions in recent years, the Pentagon says in a new policy statement.
The so-called Nuclear Posture Review, released on Friday, outlines the Pentagon's nuclear ambitions under President Donald Trump and is the first time since 2010 that the military has spelled out how it foresees nuclear threats in the coming decades.
It marks a sobering break from the vision for America's atomic future under former president Barack Obama, who during a famous speech in 2009 called for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
While the document underscores the administration's concerns about North Korea, Iran and China, the focus falls largely on Russia.
"This is a response to Russian expansion of their capability and the nature of their strategy and doctrine," Defence Secretary James Mattis wrote in the introduction to the 75-page document. "These developments, coupled with Russia's seizure of Crimea and nuclear threats against our allies, mark Moscow's decided return to Great Power competition."
The Pentagon worries Russia assumes America's regular, large-yield weapons are essentially too big to ever be detonated, as their use would likely result in large-scale retaliation and wipe much of humanity off the map.
"There are strong indications that our current strategy posture and capabilities are perceived by the Russians as potentially inadequate to deter them," Mr Greg Weaver, the deputy director of strategic capabilities for the military's Joint Staff, told reporters.
"The US and Nato require a wider range of credible low-yield nuclear options to do a very specific thing: to convince the Russian leadership that if they initiate limited nuclear use, in a war with the alliance, our response will deny them the objective they seek and impose costs that far outweigh those benefits they can achieve," he added.
Moscow yesterday denounced the policy, warning that it would take necessary measures to ensure its own security.
"The bellicose and anti-Russian nature of this document is obvious," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that it was "deeply disappointed".
The Pentagon document, which is largely in line with the previous review in 2010, said the US will modify a small number of submarine-launched ballistic missile warheads with low-yield options.
In the long term, the US military will also develop a new nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missile.
The missile could have the less powerful option, but a decision has not been made, and it will take up to a decade to develop, officials said.
It also provides momentum to US plans to modernise the "nuclear triad", the capacity to deliver nuclear weapons via land-based missile systems, submarines and strategic bombers, an effort that is expected to cost as much as US$1.2 trillion (S$ 1.6 trillion) through 2046 for development, purchase and long-term support, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Some experts have questioned the expansion. Mr Jon Wolfsthal, a former top adviser to Mr Obama on arms control, said there was a possibility that it could lead to a miscalculation.
"If we put nuclear weapons on cruise missiles and we launch conventional cruise missiles, how does Russia know that they are conventional?" he said.
The document argues that by developing US nuclear responses, it raises the Russian threshold for using the weapons, rather than lowering the US threshold. Low-yield nuclear weapons, also known as "tactical" nukes, can pack as much destructive punch as the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.
The US currently has about 1,371 nuclear weapons, down from a peak of more than 12,000 during the Cold War, and under existing treaties could raise that level to 1,550.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
