US Was Unaware of Russian Underwater Nuclear Delivery System

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States did not know about Russia’s nuclear undersea delivery system when the two countries negotiated the New START Treaty, US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller said in a hearing.

"The answer to that question is unequivocal ‘no’," Gottemoeller stated on Tuesday when asked whether the United States was aware of the existence of this system when it was in negotiations with the New START Treaty.

Gottemoeller offered to discuss the Russian nuclear system in more details in a closed session.

A presentation slide with information on the Status-6 nuclear system was accidentally broadcast on Russian TV as part of a story covering Vladimir Putin's meeting with defense officials in Sochi. Status-6 is a torpedo, equipped with a nuclear warhead, which will be capable of causing assured unacceptable damage to an enemy by contaminating vast coastal areas.

“We are concerned about it as a threat to the United States, but if it turns into a system that is widely put into operational deployment,” Gottemoeller stated Tuesday. “I think it is a troubling system.”