Recently, the United States has made frequent moves to upgrade and expand its nuclear arsenal. Some analysts believe that this will have a direct impact on the world arms control, disarmament, and nuclear non-proliferation regime and will face unprecedented challenges in the field of international security.
Comprehensive expansion and upgrade
Data map: The U.S. military test-fired the "Minuteman-3" intercontinental ballistic missile (source: CCTV today)
In June, the US military test-fired the Minuteman-3 intercontinental ballistic missile twice at the Vandenberg test site in California. Despite the Biden administration's opposition, the US Navy is ready to begin developing a new nuclear cruise missile. In addition, the US Congress is pushing a new bill aimed at restoring the strategic nuclear strike capability of dozens of B-52H bombers.
Military observer Shao Yongling believes that the United States' attempt to continuously enhance its nuclear deterrent, relax restrictions on the use of nuclear weapons, and lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons deserves vigilance.
Shao Yongling:
The comprehensive upgrade of the "triad" nuclear forces of the United States is very rare in the history of the US military. In addition to strategic nuclear weapons, the United States has also attached importance to tactical nuclear weapons. Not long ago, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that he wanted to improve the combat readiness of nuclear weapons, and the United States upgraded the B61-11 nuclear bomb deployed in Europe to the B61-12 nuclear bomb, and used the F-35A fighter as a carrying platform.
The United States is developing both strategic and tactical nuclear weapons, but in the great power competition, tactical nuclear weapons may be even more important.
Maintain hegemony
Data map: A B-52H strategic bomber takes off from a US military base (Source: Global Times) Shao Yongling believes that in the context of the gradual collapse of the nuclear arms control system of the United States and Russia, the United States has not shied away from upgrading and expanding its nuclear arsenal, because the United States believes that only in this way can it maintain its hegemonic status.
Shao Yongling:
At present, relations between the United States and Russia have deteriorated, and the United States has relied more on nuclear weapons to "maintain the strategic balance between the two sides." In addition, the United States believes that as China's national power increases, China's nuclear weapons are also developing.
The United States believes that its existing stockpile of nuclear weapons is not sufficient to alleviate its strategic anxieties.
The risk of nuclear war intensifies
Data map: Simulation renderings of the next generation of U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile "Sentinel" (source: Global Network)
Dan Smith, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, recently said that the total number of nuclear bombs in the world is likely to grow rapidly in the next few years, and the world is at "the most dangerous moment in human history".
In this regard, Shao Yongling believes that at present, the United States and Russia lack effective "guardrails" for strategic stability, and the sense of insecurity is intensifying, and both sides are trying to show each other a stronger nuclear deterrent by accelerating the modernization of their nuclear forces.
Shao Yongling:
In the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the United States and Russia have played a fierce game, and tensions between the two countries have intensified. Russia has begun to revise its nuclear doctrine, and I think this is an unusual signal that Russia is likely to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.
I believe that the world is in the "most dangerous moment in human history" – a fierce confrontation between major powers, and eventually, nuclear weapons are in the "toolbox" of great power confrontation. The possibility of a nuclear war is increasing.
Source: Central Military