Apparently the nuclear warriors at the Pentagon are not satisfied with the current U.S. force structure and doctrine. “We are now in a world where we’re facing multiple nuclear competitors,” Richard C. Johnson, deputy assistant secretary for nuclear and countering weapons of mass destruction policy, said during a panel hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Nov. 20, reported The Debrief news outlet. He cited “multiple states that are growing, diversifying and modernizing their nuclear arsenals and also, unfortunately, prioritizing the role that nuclear weapons play in their national security strategies.”
Therefore, Johnson argued, current nuclear modernization efforts could require additional measures to rise to the challenges presented by newly emerging threats. He apparently has little sense how much the world he was talking about was actually created by the U.S. policy of seeking world dominance.
Johnson cited “enhancements” to the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines as well as the development of the B61-13 nuclear gravity bomb as two additional measures that the Biden Administration is taking. Johnson also said adjustments to the 2022 Nuclear Posture Review could be warranted amid ongoing changes to the global security environment, which include “enhanced nuclear capabilities of China and Russia and possible lack of nuclear arms control agreements after February,” according to a DOD statement issued this week.
