Washington: The Trump administration is working on a nuclear weapons policy to bolster the US arsenal and relax conditions under which it would be used, marking an end to post-cold war disarmament.
In September, a draft of the new Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) was presented at a White House meeting between Donald Trump and his top national security advisers. Some of the proposals that are being considered include a low yield ballistic missile intended primarily to deter Russia’s use of a small nuclear weapon in a war over the Baltic states, a sea-launched cruise missile, a change in language governing conditions in which the US can use nuclear weapons and investments aimed at reducing the time it would take the US to prepare a nuclear test, according to the Guardian.
The NPR also proposes to bring back nuclear Tomahawk sea-launched cruise missiles, which were dropped from the arsenal in 2013, Christopher Ford, special assistant to the President on weapons of mass destruction and counterproliferation, said.
The new policy, if approved, will wipe out the legacy of former President Barack Obama who in a major speech in Prague in April 2009, committed the US to disarmament and the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons. Under Mr Obama, the US vowed to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and maintained that the US shouldn’t build any new nuclear platforms. However, that was when the US did not consider Russia, China, or North Korea a threat. In the past few months, North Korea's missile tests have led to a growing tension in the region with Mr Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un repeatedly warning of attacks.
On Friday, Vice-President Mike Pence warned that nuclear missiles would be deployed in “overwhelming” fashion if North Korea strikes first. “America always seeks peace,” he said, but it “forced” by North Korea to defend America or its allies, a US response would be “effective and overwhelming.”
The Congress will have to approve any change in the US nuclear arsenal. It controls the funding for the nuclear weapons programme and is already concerned about the rising cost that is eating away at conventional capabilities, Guardian said. The Congressional Budget Office is expected to issue a new report on Tuesday that would revise cost estimates for the nuclear weapon modernisation programme from $1tn to $1.25tn over three decades.
Building a nuclear state
Under President Barack Obama, the US prioritised stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and maintained the US would not build any new nuclear platforms.
The White House is debating a new nuclear policy and is considering:​
- A low yield ballistic missile intended primarily to deter Russia’s use of a small nuclear weapon in a war over the Baltic states.
- A sea-launched cruise missile.
- A change in language governing conditions in which the US can use nukes.
