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New Trump Nuclear Weapons Policies Not Offensive in Nature - Pentagon Official

Sputnik International

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US plans to build new submarine-launched cruise missiles (SLCM) and expand its nuclear arsenal are not offensive in nature and are a... 26.02.2018, Sputnik International

2018-02-26T18:38+0000

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New Trump Nuclear Weapons Policies Not Offensive in Nature - Pentagon Official

18:38 GMT 26.02.2018 (Updated: 10:17 GMT 07.12.2022)

© AP Photo / Phil SandlinDec. 4, 1989 file photo shows the launch of a Trident II, D-5 missile from the submerged USS Tennessee submarine in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. As of mid-2010, 12 operational U.S. nuclear-missile submarines carry a total of 288 Trident missiles. A movement is growing worldwide to abolish nuclear weapons, encouraged by President Barack Obama's endorsement of that goal. But "realists" argue that more stability and peace must first be achieved in the world.

Dec. 4, 1989 file photo shows the launch of a Trident II, D-5 missile from the submerged USS Tennessee submarine in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. As of mid-2010, 12 operational U.S. nuclear-missile submarines carry a total of 288 Trident missiles. A movement is growing worldwide to abolish nuclear weapons, encouraged by President Barack Obama's endorsement of that goal. But realists argue that more stability and peace must first be achieved in the world. - Sputnik International

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US plans to build new submarine-launched cruise missiles (SLCM) and expand its nuclear arsenal are not offensive in nature and are a continuation of policies going back 70 years, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy David Trachtenberg said on Monday.

"Long standing tenets have not changed from 2010 [nuclear policy review under President Barack Obama] to 2018 [the Nuclear Policy Review released this year]," Trachtenberg said in a speech at the Heritage Foundation. "[The new NPR] enhances deterrence and raises the nuclear threshold."

Trachtenberg also defended the development of a new low-yield tactical warhead and SLCM as being within the terms of existing nuclear arms reduction treaties and therefore, he claimed, they did not contribute to a new arms race.

This April 27, 1956, file photo shows the area in which the United States hydrogen bomb tests will take place in the Pacific Ocean. North Korea said it successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb in its latest nuclear test Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017. Outside experts haven't been able to verify that claim, but say it's plausible. If true, it would represent a major step forward in North Korea's effort to develop a nuclear weapon capable of reaching the United States. - Sputnik International

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"A low yield SLCM enhances deterrence… Our arsenal will stay within the new START [Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty] limits… The goal of the NPR is to deter nuclear war not to fight one… and to ensure that deterrence will not fail," he said. "Both capabilities are fully consistent with our treaty obligations."

Trachtenberg claimed the recommendations of the 2018 review remained "broadly consistent" with the policy of every administration over the past 70 years from President Harry Truman.