The head of the Strategic Command of the US Armed Forces, Admiral Charles Richard, said that in the next ten years in the nuclear field, Washington will have not one, but two rivals - Russia and China. This prediction was made by an American officer during a videoconference at the Mitchell Institute.

“China is on track to become our equal strategic competitor by the end of the decade. Thus, for the first time in history, the United States will have two competitors of equal capabilities in the field of nuclear weapons ... We have never encountered such a situation before, ”said Richard.

According to the head of the Strategic Command of the US Armed Forces, Beijing's efforts are currently aimed at creating a nuclear triad, which allows the use of atomic weapons from the air, from the sea and from the ground. China is also improving its command and control systems, he said. 

“For nearly 30 years, the United States and the Department of Defense have not had to consider all the likely consequences of competing with an adversary with an equal nuclear potential in terms of possible crises and armed conflicts ... The consequences are very significant,” added Richard.

Planned modernization

According to analysts, it follows from the words of the head of the Strategic Command of the US Armed Forces that today the United States views Russia as the main competitor in the nuclear field. According to Richard, for the past 15 years the Russian Federation has been modernizing its Armed Forces, including its strategic forces.

At the same time, from the point of view of experts, Russia and the United States have approximately equal nuclear forces in terms of capabilities. The large-scale renewal of Russian atomic weapons, which began in the 2000s, was dictated mainly by the need for the planned replacement of weapons with new models of military equipment.

“The rearmament of the Russian nuclear triad is mainly expressed in the replacement of Soviet models, whose warranty period is coming to an end. Although aggressive American plans pushed Russia to create individual weapons, in particular hypersonic complexes, for example, deploying a missile defense system near its borders, "Alexander Mikhailov, head of the Bureau of Military-Political Analysis, explained in an interview with RT.

One of the examples of modern Russian nuclear weapons is the RS-24 Yars strategic mobile missile system, which is an improved version of the Topol-M system. It was adopted by the Strategic Missile Forces more than ten years ago. 

  • Russian mobile missile system RS-24 "Yars"
  • RIA News
  • © Vladimir Astapkovich

According to experts, it was with the supply of this complex that a large-scale renewal of the Russian strategic forces began. From its predecessors "Yars" differs in increased survivability and stability of the control system.

Along with the supply of modern mobile missile systems to the Russian Federation, the modernization of silo-based strategic weapons continues. So, at the end of December 2019, the Avangard complex, which has the ability to maneuver in dense layers of the atmosphere at hypersonic speed, took over the combat duty of the regiment of the 13th missile division (Dombarovsky, Orenburg region).

According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the newest system is "invulnerable to today's and future air defense and missile defense systems." Experts believe that in the 13th missile division Avangard is being mounted on a silo-based ICBM UR-100N UTTH Stilet (RS-18A), and in a few years it will be installed on the RS-28 Sarmat missile. More than 40 newest ICBMs are to be delivered to the Strategic Missile Forces by 2025.

Russia has achieved certain successes in improving the naval component of the nuclear triad. We are talking about the implementation of the program for the construction of submarine cruisers of project 955A ("Borey-A"). Each nuclear-powered ship carries 16 Bulava ICBMs, containing from six to ten individually guided nuclear blocks.

Modernization of the air component of the nuclear triad of the Russian Federation - strategic aviation - is due to the expansion of the combat capabilities of the Tu-160, Tu-22M3 and Tu-95MS bombers. Also, the Russian industry is developing a new generation stealth aircraft - the so-called promising long-range aviation complex (PAK DA).

“According to official data, by the end of last year, the share of modern technology in the strategic nuclear forces reached 82%. This indicates a comprehensive upgrade of the entire nuclear triad of the Russian Federation. Among the main achievements, I would name hypersound, "Boreas" and the Poseidon marine drone. In my opinion, the Americans are so worried because they are far behind in this field, ”Mikhailov stressed.

"Anti-China Alarmism"

Along with Russia, the PRC has also achieved serious success in rearming its strategic forces, experts say. In particular, thanks to the supply of new ballistic complexes, the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) was able to strengthen the capabilities of the ground component of the nuclear triad. The modernization of the PRC's nuclear fleet is proceeding as planned, analysts say.

“We can agree with the Americans that Beijing is going to form a full-fledged nuclear triad. The missing link in it is the air component. However, work on the creation of a strategic stealth aircraft is in its final stages. China will soon receive the Xian H-20, which will become a modern carrier of missile and bomb weapons, including those with a nuclear filling, "Vadim Kozyulin, professor of the Academy of Military Sciences, said in a commentary on RT.

  • Conceptual image of the Xian H-20 strategic aircraft
  • © Frame: video YouTube / Guerra Moderna

According to him, with the massive commissioning of the Xian H-20, Beijing will be able to effectively solve the tasks of strategic containment of the United States in the air. Now the PLA Air Force is still in service with the outdated long-range bombers Xian H-6. They are modernized versions of the Soviet Tu-16 Barsuk aircraft developed in the late 1950s.

According to sources from the South China Morning Post, Beijing may showcase the H-20 at the China Airshow 2020, which is due to take place in Zhuhai this November.

At the same time, the Chinese authorities do not disclose information about the characteristics of the car. In turn, the Pentagon believes that the flight range of the new strategic bomber PLA will be 8.5 thousand km, and the entire arsenal of the aircraft will be hidden inside the hull.

According to Vadim Kozyulin, China needs the Xian H-20 mainly to counter the United States in the Asia-Pacific region, where many American military installations are located. Also, with the formation of the nuclear triad, the PLA will receive a hypothetical opportunity to deliver massive retaliatory strikes in the event of aggression from a potential enemy.

China is currently considered the third-largest nuclear power. Nevertheless, in terms of the number of nuclear warheads, the PLA is still far behind the Russian army and the US Armed Forces.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the PRC has 320 nuclear weapons in its arsenal. At the same time, Russia has 6375 warheads (of which 1570 are deployed), and the United States has 5800 (of which 1750 are deployed).

“I disagree with the assertion of the head of the US Strategic Command that China is striving for nuclear parity and by the end of the decade will achieve the same nuclear power as the United States and Russia. Beijing did not set this as its goal, although it certainly turned into a worthy competitor to the United States in various fields, including in the field of armaments, ”says Kozyulin.

According to him, today China is concerned about the growing military and political pressure from Washington, which only spurs the PLA to develop its strategic forces. Kozyulin explains the "anti-Chinese alarmism" of the US Department of Defense by the eternal desire of the Pentagon to get priority in the distribution of budget funds.

Alexander Mikhailov adheres to a similar point of view. In his opinion, the tactics of the US military is to get as much money as possible for new military programs through the propaganda of the "Chinese threat".

“The United States is well aware that nuclear parity with Russia is well established. There is nothing to be done about it, and now overseas they switched to China. This is a new agenda, which is necessary in order to feed concerns and corporations working for the Pentagon, ”concluded Mikhailov.