The United States is not only working to modernize its nuclear arsenal, but is also looking to diversify it, an official document leaked to the Pentagon says.
“The Pentagon is producing new types of nuclear weapons to keep pace with Russia, China and other Washington adversaries in this area,” the Washington Post reported on Saturday.
Among the new types of nuclear weapons are the so-called “low-intensity nuclear bombs”, which can be mounted on Trident missiles and launched from submarines, the newspaper said, pointing out that these bombs could do more damage than the Japanese Hiroshima and Nagasaki late World War II.
The Pentagon also called for the design of a new submarine-capable ballistic missile called the SLCM, previously rejected by the administration of former US President Barack Obama in 2010.
The Washington Post said that the manufacture of these weapons will increase the already huge expenses included in the draft “law to modernize the nuclear arsenal” next at a cost of $ 1.2 billion over the next 30 years.
The paper said that the draft referred to, “Russia is the biggest challenge to push Washington to develop its nuclear arsenal, especially on the impact of worsening strategic atmosphere in light of tension in relations with Moscow.
The United States accused Russia of “violating the 1987 medium- and short-range missile treaty in Europe, charging it with the production of a new winged missile with nuclear warheads.”
The draft considers that the most important strategic priority for the United States is to correct Russia’s erroneous position, especially given its capabilities to launch a small-scale nuclear strike that would yield significant gains in its limited nuclear bombs.
It should be noted that US President Donald Trump commissioned Defense Secretary James Matisse to inspect the country’s nuclear arsenal, without disclosing the details of the tasks entrusted to the US Secretary of Defense at this level.
The Pentagon is expected to publish the draft, which the Washington Post drew from its report after a Trump speech in Congress on the 30th of this month.