“Russia in the last few months has returned to, I would say, nearly a Cold War level of activity that goes towards our homeland, with long-range attacks, exercises and those types of things,” Admiral Samuel Locklear told the House Armed Services Committee.
“We also know that Russia will improve their strategic nuclear deterrent on what’s thought as their east coast, which is in the Northern Pacific,” he said in comments carried by The Washington Post.
In his prepared statement to the committee, Admiral Locklear said Russia was “reasserting itself” politically and militarily in the Pacific.
Russia is also building up its submarine forces in Asia, and its military forces are seeking increased influence in the Arctic region, Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, the four-star admiral testified, adding that increasing Russian activities, along with those of North Korea and China, were being “monitored closely with US intelligence and surveillance systems.”