In a testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, the head of the US nuclear forces this week said that Russia is developing strategic weapons outside of the New START Treaty, which will lapse in 2021 if it is not expanded before then. Among the new weapons being developed by Moscow are an underwater drone with nuclear capabilities, an intercontinental-range cruise missile and a hypersonic nuclear weapon.
Air Force Gen. John Hyten explained that he was “concerned 10 years and beyond that with torpedoes, with cruise missiles, with hypersonic, that it can go completely in the other direction, that we would have a difficulty,” adding that “I have no problem saying I can defend the nation today, and I think the commander after me can, but I worry about the commander after the commander after the commander.”
Read more: US nuclear general worries over Russia’s weapons outside New START