General John Hyten, answering a question on the current Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) doctrine during a hearing on the US Strategic Forces Posture and the Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Request noted that countries like China and Russia can't do anything that the US "will not have the ability to respond to"… besides "a massive attack." He was quick to calm down the House subcommittee on strategic forces that both countries don't know where the US submarines are located and assured that the subs "have the ability decimate their countries."
"Our submarines — they do not know where they are and they have the ability decimate their countries if we go down that path," John Hyten said.
READ MORE: Pentagon 'Dissapointed' by Putin's Announcement of New Nukes, Wants More Funding
A group of senators earlier addressed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urging him to start a dialogue on strategic stability with Russia. This comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed the Russian military's latest weapons in its strategic arsenal during his annual address to the Federal Assembly, including cutting-edge weapons such as an intercontinental nuclear-powered cruise missile, a nuclear-capable underwater drone and a hypersonic cruise missile. He later clarified that Russia will use its nuclear weapons only as a response measure, not for offensive purposes.
READ MORE: Putin: Russia May Use Nukes Only as a Response Strike
The latest US Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) named China, Russia, DPRK and Iran as the key threats to US security. It was also noted that Russia's latest intercontinental nuclear weapons systems pose one of the gravest threats.
