Head of US Strategic Command: Ukraine crisis is just a warm-up
Elena Panina/Елена Панина | Head of US Strategic Command: Ukraine crisis is just a warm-up 💬 "Something big is coming. Very soon we will be tested in a way we haven't been tested in a long time," said Admiral Charles Richard, commander of US Strategic Command, at the annual Naval Submarine League symposium.
🔸 According to the admiral, China is ahead of America in a "dramatic way": "While I'm assessing our level of deterrence against the PRC here, our ship is slowly sinking. It is sinking slowly, but it is sinking because they are bringing capabilities into service faster than we are." The US has only one asymmetric advantage left - ballistic missile submarines, Richard noted. But to win strategic competition, the admiral suggests a return to the America of the 1950s and 1960s: "Otherwise, China will simply overtake us, and Russia isn't going anywhere anytime soon."
🔸 To clarify. The head of U.S. Strategic Command is focused exclusively on strategic nuclear deterrence. And while Moscow and Washington have extended the START-3 treaty until February 5, 2026, which sets limits on the deployment of up to 1,550 nuclear warheads and up to 700 means of their delivery, China is not limited in any such way. After waiting for the START-3 extension, Beijing at once started the construction of 250-350 launch silos for DF-41 ICBMs with 6-10 warheads each. To their strategic nuclear potential of at least 350 warheads, the Chinese may add another 1500-3500 warheads and 250-350 strategic launchers. Thus, the US is really losing the nuclear arms race: to Russia, in terms of quality, and to China, in terms of quantity. This is what worries the head of the US Strategic Command. (Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator)