The annual Exercise of the Strategic Command (STRATCOM) of the US Armed Forces to verify the readiness of nuclear forces Global Thunder 23 will start on April 11. This is stated in a message on the official website of the command.
"The purpose (of the exercises. - RT) Global Thunder 23 - increasing nuclear readiness and ensuring the safety, security and reliability of strategic deterrence forces, "STRATCOM said.
The US military emphasizes that the Global Thunder 23 exercises are planned and are not a response to the actions of any country or other actors.
In addition to U.S. personnel, GT 23 will feature key U.S. allies and partners, including the U.K., who will form part of senior management teams and provide both operational and political support.
The command's website explains that STRATCOM's "global" responsibilities include strategic deterrence, nuclear operations, joint operations in the electromagnetic spectrum, global strikes and missile defense.
As in previous years, during the Global Thunder 23 exercises, the number of flights of bomber aviation will be increased, the command of the US strategic forces specified.
At the moment, the duration and location of the exercises were not disclosed, but in the past similar maneuvers took place in Europe and lasted about two weeks.
Nuclear policy
Recall that the head of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu in 2021 said that as part of the "exercise of the US strategic forces Global Thunder, ten strategic bombers worked out the option of using nuclear weapons against Russia almost simultaneously from the western and eastern directions."
"The minimum distance from our state border was 20 km," the head of the Russian defense ministry said at the time.
- Strategic bomber B-1B Bomber
- Gettyimages.ru
- © Jerod Harris
Exercise Global Thunder is a series of exercises by U.S. land, sea, and air strategic forces that are coherent and interrelated in purpose, objectives, and timing. They are conducted under the direct supervision of STRATCOM to solve strategic problems in nuclear war.
As part of the exercises, flights of strategic bombers, training of ground force personnel and verification of the readiness of strategic missile submarines to launch sea-based ballistic missiles are carried out.
The purpose of Global Thunder is to prepare the strategic nuclear forces of the United States for the destruction by massive, group and single nuclear strikes of the most important strategic facilities and groups of means of nuclear attack of a hypothetical enemy, groups of its troops, objects of the military economy, state and military control systems.
It is worth noting that official Washington has previously stated that it will not change its position on the use of nuclear forces due to the changing military-political situation or Russia's actions. So, at the end of February, this was stated by the official representative of the State Department Ned Price after Russia suspended participation in the START-III treaty.
"So far, we see no reason to change our nuclear and strategic position," Price said at the time.
Shortly thereafter, however, the Pentagon published its declassified October 2022 Nuclear Posture Review.
"This Nuclear Posture Review recognizes that the international security environment has unfortunately been deteriorating since 2018," said Richard C. Johnson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Weapons of Mass Destruction Policy.
According to him, the special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine and the modernization and expansion of China's strategic forces cause concern for Washington in the context of possible risks of a nuclear conflict.
According to Johnson, for the first time, the United States will face two major rivals with nuclear weapons. The Pentagon official noted that this situation creates a dilemma for the United States in terms of strategic and regional deterrence, adding that North Korea and Iran are also problematic countries in terms of a potential nuclear conflict.
Planned opponents
Recently, Russia has taken a number of steps to ensure its strategic security, which have not gone unnoticed in the United States, andrei Koshkin, an expert of the Association of Military Political Scientists, head of the Department of Political Analysis and Socio-Psychological Processes of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, said in a conversation with RT.
"In October last year, Russia conducted exercises of strategic nuclear forces to deliver a massive retaliatory strike. PC-24 Yars missiles were launched, in addition, we demonstrated the launch of the Sineva missile from a submarine. Long-range aviation was involved - Tu-95MS bombers. This was a very significant signal for the strategic forces of the United States of America, and, of course, now they are preparing to conduct planned exercises to show their capabilities, "explained Andrei Koshkin.
- Launch of the Minuteman III ballistic missile
- AP
- © Ryan Quijas/U.S. Air Force
In addition, the US position on strategic security could not but be influenced by president Putin's statement on the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, political scientists believe. However, it is not necessary to directly link the upcoming Global Thunder 23 exercises with this decision, analysts believe.
"The decision on the possible transfer of tactical ammunition to Minsk is rather caused by the threats that the collective West is now carrying to Belarus. It is the West that is concentrating new military units in Poland, in the Baltic States – right at the Belarusian borders, transferring equipment and concentrating weapons. Western countries have been made to understand that Belarus is under the reliable protection of Russia. The West, of course, was not happy about this, but the exercises of the US nuclear forces hardly concern this, "said Alexander Mikhailov, head of the Bureau of Military-Political Analysis, in an interview with RT.
According to Koshkin, the United States is forced to demonstrate the capabilities of its strategic forces to a greater extent by the general situation in the field of control over strategic nuclear weapons, which has worsened due to Washington's actions.
"Through the fault of the United States, all deterrent treaties were destroyed - the INF Treaty, the DON, we were forced to suspend the START-III Treaty. At the same time, the United States feels its serious failures in hypersonic weapons. They are trying to compensate for all this with strategic nuclear weapons," Andrei Koshkin emphasized.
Russia and the United States regularly assess the readiness of their strategic forces, but in the current military-political situation in the world, when "geopolitical rhetoric acquires a nuclear tinge," special attention is paid to such exercises, Alexander Mikhailov emphasized.
"Naturally, Russia will closely monitor these maneuvers and all possible scenarios of Global Thunder 23, using both a satellite constellation and other means of control and reconnaissance, so that the actions of the Americans will not go unnoticed," the expert said.
The U.S. is also likely to monitor the strategic exercises in China, given the growing tension between the two countries over Taiwan, analysts said. They recalled that in the South China Sea, Beijing is now demonstrating its military presence. Against the background of these events, the Global Thunder 23 exercises may seem like a kind of challenge, but this is rather a matter of interpretation - the exercises, according to political scientists, are still planned.
"In general, during the maneuvers, we can expect training scenarios to be worked out, including a possible attack on Russia and Belarus. There is nothing surprising here. We are a likely adversary of the U.S., and the U.S. is a likely adversary for us. If it comes to strategic nuclear forces, then for the United States the main likely adversary has always been and remains Russia, "Mikhailov summed up.