US pushes for new, low-yield nuclear bombs
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 policy statement released Friday.
The so-called Nuclear Posture Review 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 Barack Obama, who during a famous speech in Prague in 2009 called for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
“This is a response to Russian expansion of their capability and the nature of their strategy and doctrine,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis wrote in the introduction to the 75-page document. 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.
Low-yield nuclear weapons, also known as “tactical” nukes, are still extremely powerful and can pack as much destructive punch as the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. America already has a massive nuclear arsenal at its disposal, including 150 B-61 nukes stored across multiple European countries that can be configured for low-yield options.
Greater willingness
Critics says the new US strategy shows a greater willingness to use nuclear weapons first.
“We are on the cusp of a new era of nuclear proliferation,” warned Barry Blechman, co-founder of the Stimson Center, a nonpartisan anti-nuclear proliferation think tank in Washington.
“This is the great nuclear danger raised by the new” nuclear policy.
“This is a pretty sharp departure from current policy or even pre-obama policies,” said Lisbeth Gronlund, senior scientist and co-director of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “President Trump is embarking on a reckless path — one that will reduce US security both now and in the longer term.” Gronlund added that her biggest concern with the new policy is “an emphasis on integrating nuclear and conventional forces to facilitate nuclear warfighting. This new policy deliberately blurs the line between nuclear and conventional forces and eliminates a clear firewall.”
AFP and CNBC contributed to this story.