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The growing ties between China and Russia are sparking new fears among U.S. war planners that the two nuclear powers will soon pose a unified nuclear threat to the United States, the Air Force general nominated to head the nation’s nuclear deterrence arsenal told Congress.
Gen. Anthony J. Cotton, currently commander of the Air Force Global Strike Command and nominee for Strategic Command commander, told a Senate confirmation hearing in response to repeated questioning that a China-Russia nuclear axis would require stronger U.S. nuclear deterrent forces and new thinking on how the U.S. would respond to a nuclear challenge from Beijing and Moscow.
The general’s comments were made the same day Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin were meeting in Uzbekistan for their first face-to-face talks since seven months. Both leaders called for increasing cooperation in the growing strategic partnership.
Mr. Xi said China supports working with Russia on their “core issues.” In February, the Chinese leader signed an agreement with Mr. Putin stating there are “no limits” to cooperation between the two.
U.S. intelligence has revealed that China is rapidly expanding its nuclear forces and is expected to have more than 1,000 warheads by the end of the decade, along with new missiles, submarines and bombers to deliver them. China recently tested a new space-based hypersonic strike weapon called a fractional orbital bombardment system that can deliver nuclear warheads to targets on earth from any trajectory.
Satellite images also revealed recently that China is building silos for an estimated 360 missiles that U.S. defense officials say will be used for new DF-41 multi-warhead ICBMs.
For its part, Russia recently finished a major program to modernize its large nuclear forces, adding new heavy intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) and submarines. Moscow also is fielding cutting-edge strategic weapons that include a hypersonic missile, a nuclear-armed drone torpedo and a nuclear-powered cruise missile.
The U.S. nuclear modernization program is facing risks that aging strategic systems will not be replaced on time, Gen.
