WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2022) The United States integrated deterrence concept is ineffectual unless it is underpinned by nuclear capabilities, US Adm. Charles Richard said on Wednesday.
"If you don't underpin it (integrated deterrence concept) with nuclear, because there is no other capability or combination of capabilities demonstrated today, that gets anywhere close to the demonstrated destructive potential of nuclear if you don't underpin integrated deterrence with your strategic forces, the whole concept doesn't work," Richard said during an Air & Space Forces Association conference.
Richard pointed out that the threat of a nuclear conflict has ceased to be theoretical after the conflict in Ukraine, and this change will have profound implications for strategic deterrence, homeland defense, and achieving US national objectives.
The US admiral added that he "can't get through a week without a reminder that this is a very real threat" of a conflict with a nuclear armed peer that the United States faces these days.
The United States has not faced competitors that can escalate to any level of violence with any instrument of power worldwide in a very long time, Richard said.
Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order calling up 300,000 reservists to support Russia's military operation in Ukraine. He accused the west of using the threat of nuclear weapons to blackmail Russia and warned that Moscow will use all means in case its territorial integrity is threatened.
Commenting on the announcement, National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby said that the United States takes Putin's words about nuclear weapons use seriously, but sees no need to boost the readiness of its own strategic deterrent forces at the moment.
