Breaking Defense:
Vladimir Putin recently announced that Russia is developing and fielding four new and horrific nuclear weapons. They include a nuclear-powered cruise missile of essentially infinite range and a nuclear-powered underwater drone with an enormous, salt-the-earth nuclear payload. The announcement should come as a surprise to no one.
It certainly did not surprise the Trump Administration, who warned in a series of strategy documents, including the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) released last month, that Russia’s increasingly aggressive actions over the past decade require a strong response to deter war and reassure our allies. Successfully implementing the recommendations from the NPR, the National Defense Strategy and the forthcoming Missile Defense Review will be critical to this effort.
But beneath all the Russian bullying, the timelines and very real capabilities of these nuclear weapon programs reveal an even more troubling picture. It is obvious none of these programs were started in reaction to the Trump administration’s 2018 NPR, which is barely a month old, nor in reaction to the Trump administration itself, which is just over a year old. These programs were initiated many years ago.
