{"id":16058,"date":"2019-02-26T19:57:39","date_gmt":"2019-02-26T19:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/26\/us-nuclear-general-worries-over-russias-weapons-outside-new-start\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:35:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:35:14","slug":"us-nuclear-general-worries-over-russias-weapons-outside-new-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/nuclear-arsenal\/2019\/02\/26\/us-nuclear-general-worries-over-russias-weapons-outside-new-start\/","title":{"rendered":"US nuclear general worries over Russia\u2019s weapons outside New START"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. general who oversees America\u2019s nuclear forces<\/a> expressed concern Tuesday that Russia is developing new strategic weapons outside of the New START Treaty, which is set to expire in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The comments by Air Force Gen. John Hyten come in the wake of the United States\u2019 and Russia\u2019s withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, freeing Moscow to develop and deploy new missiles, and fueling fears the 2010 New START Treaty may be next to lapse, with nothing to replace it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, the head of U.S. Strategic Command said Russia is developing a nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered underwater unmanned vehicle, an intercontinental-range cruise missile, and a hypersonic nuclear weapon, which Moscow wants to keep out of existing arms agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such weapons could pose a threat in the near future if the U.S. does not address them, Hyten warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI get 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,\u201d Hyten said. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hyten said he wants to expand New START to include Russia\u2019s capabilities and emphasized the value of the treaty\u2019s verification process. The treaty allows the U.S. inspect and gain insight into the real capability of Russia\u2019s strategic arsenal \u2014 and vice versa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, in an exchange with Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren \u2014 a 2020 presidential contender and proponent of nuclear restraint \u2014 Hyten seemed to leave an opening to justify New START\u2019s termination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve stated for the record in the part \u2014 and I haven\u2019t changed my opinion \u2014 that I support New START, but you have to have a partner who wants to participate,\u201d he said, likening it to the INF Treaty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf Russians continue to build capabilities outside the New START Treaty that aren\u2019t accountable, under the table \u2014 under the treaty, if there is a new strategic arm that appears, they should take that to the table to discuss it,\u201d he said. \u201cIf they won\u2019t do that, that\u2019s part of what we have concerns about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Gen. John Hyten, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, walks through the headquarters at Offut, Neb., on Mar. 2, 2017. (D. Myles Cullen\/U.S. Defense Department)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The INF Treaty prohibits the U.S. and Russia from fielding ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 kilometers and 5,500 kilometers, but the U.S. asserts Russia\u2019s new 9M729 cruise missile fits that category. The U.S. quit the treaty in October, and Russia has since followed suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday, Russian state television reportedly<\/a> listed U.S. military facilities that Moscow would target in the event of a nuclear strike, and said that a hypersonic missile Russia is developing will be able to hit them in less than five minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In questioning Hyten, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and other Republican proponents of America\u2019s nuclear arsenal, were clearly building a record ahead of a debate over the cost of nuclear modernization and America\u2019s nuclear triad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue is a likely friction point in the upcoming bicameral debate over the annual defense policy bill, as House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., has called for a reset of the Trump administration\u2019s plans for America\u2019s nuclear arsenal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith has called the Pentagon\u2019s plan to recapitalize the three legs of the triad \u2014 by buying the Columbia-class submarine, new intercontinental ballistic missiles and the B-21 bomber \u2014 \u201cway beyond what we can afford.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the Pentagon will spend more than $1 trillion over the next 30 years to buy new nuclear weapons or sustain what it has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid questions from Strategic Forces Subcommittee Chairman Deb Fischer, R-Neb., Hyten affirmed that while Russia and China modernize their nuclear triads, a unilateral cut by America \u201cwould significantly reduce our deterrent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t