Military

US 'Ill-Prepared' to Face Nuclear Challenges From China & Russia, Report Reveals

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States is ill-prepared to deal with nuclear challenges from Russia and China, a congressional commission said in a report released on Thursday.
Sputnik
"Given current threat trajectories, our nation will soon encounter a fundamentally different global setting than it has ever experienced: we will face a world where two nations possess nuclear arsenals on par with our own," the report said.
"In addition, the risk of conflict with these two nuclear peers is increasing. It is an existential challenge for which the United States is ill-prepared, unless its leaders make decisions now to adjust the US strategic posture."
The Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States said it has a robust array of threat assessments from the Intelligence Community and Defense Intelligence Enterprise and concludes the United States will be poorly prepared to deal with these challenges specifically from 2027 to 2035 and beyond.
The commission urges the United States to address this issue urgently and resolutely. According to the report, this includes fielding strong deterrent capabilities and bolstering the US industrial base and American innovation.
The report also emphasized the US president and the Congress must ensure appropriate, consistent, and timely funding to support the United States' strategic posture.
Compiled from more than 100 briefings with security and intelligence insiders, the 160-page report further warned the US found itself in a "new global environment [that] is fundamentally different than anything experienced in the past, even in the darkest days of the Cold War."
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Among the potential solutions, the panel specified a much-needed boost in the stockpile of B-21 bombers and Columbia-class, nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines, among other weaponry.
At present, the US is in the process of replacing its nuclear submarines, intercontinental ballistic missiles and stealth bombers, a feat that insiders have said will carrying a hefty price tag of $1 trillion. However, it's believed the process itself may take years during to supply chain shortages and skyrocketing costs.
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