The commander of U.S. Submarine Forces has observed ballistic missile submarines as a growing Russian priority, noting that Russia is “on the cusp” of fielding a continuous at-sea strategic deterrent, “something they fell off of for many years,” he said during an event on Thursday. Russia debuted its third of 10 planned Borei-class SSBNs in December. “I think we’re going to see part of that Borei-class show up in the Northwest Pacific pretty soon,” Vice Adm. Mike Connor, commander of U.S. Submarine Forces, said during a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “So that’s an area that they’ve been pretty slow for a long time out there, but they’re coming back.”
While Russia and the U.S. are reducing their nuclear stockpiles through New START, both countries are modernizing their nuclear-weapon platforms. U.S. military officials have underscored that no arms race is occurring—instead pointing to U.S. modernization as the best way to ensure a safe, secure and reliable nuclear deterrent. For Russia’s part, while President Vladimir Putin has increased his nuclear rhetoric in recent months, including saying that Russia was considering going on nuclear alert over the crisis in Crimea, Russia has not indicated its nuclear modernization programs to be a response to any U.S. nuclear recapitalization programs.
Jobs