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The United States must prepare for possible simultaneous wars with Russia and China by building up conventional forces, strengthening alliances, and intensifying its nuclear weapons modernization program.
This is stated in the report of a bipartisan commission in the US Congress .
The Strategic Planning Commission's report comes amid tensions with China over Taiwan and other issues and escalating tensions with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
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According to Reuters, a senior official involved in the preparation of the report refused to say whether intelligence data had been received about cooperation between China and Russia in the field of nuclear weapons.
— We are worried… that there may be some ultimate coordination between them, which leads us to this construction of two wars, — the official said on condition of anonymity.
The report's findings could upend the current U.S. national security strategy of winning one conflict while containing another, and require a significant increase in defense spending with uncertain congressional support.
— We recognize fiscal realities, but we also believe the nation must make these investments, — Democratic Chair Madeleine Creedon, a former deputy director of the US nuclear weapons agency, and Vice Chair John Kyl, a retired Republican senator, said in the report's foreword.
Speaking at a briefing on the report, Kyl said, that the President and Congress must “convey to the American people”that increased defense spending — it's a small price to pay “to hopefully prevent” a possible nuclear war involving the United States, China and Russia.
Insufficient nuclear arsenal
The Congressional panel's report disagrees with US President Joe Biden's position that the current US nuclear arsenal is sufficient to deter the combined forces of Russia and China.
The composition of the arsenal still exceeds what is needed to to hold a sufficient number of enemy targets at risk to deter an enemy nuclear attack”, — the advocacy group Arms Control Association said in response to the report.
— The United States and its allies must be prepared to deter and defeat both adversaries simultaneously. The US-led international order and the values it espouses are under threat from Chinese and Russian authoritarian regimes, — says the Strategic Strategy Commission report.
Congress in 2022 created a commission of six Democrats and six Republicans to assess long-term threats to the United States and make recommendations for changes to U.S. conventional and nuclear forces.
< p>The group agreed with the Pentagon's forecast thatThe rapid expansion of China's nuclear arsenal will likely result in it having 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035, putting the United States facing a second major nuclear-armed rival for the first time.
< p>Threats from China and Russia will intensify in the period 2027-2035so “decisions need to be made now so that the country is ready”, — says the 145-page report.
The report states that the 30-year US nuclear modernization program, which began in 2010 and was estimated in 2017 at about $400 billion, should be fully funded by 2046 to modernize all warheads, delivery systems and infrastructure in according to the schedule.
Among other recommendations — deploying more tactical nuclear weaponsin Asia and Europe, developing plans to deploy some or all of the US reserve nuclear warheads, and producing more B- stealth bombers 21 and new Columbia-class nuclear submarinesbeyond the number currently planned.
The group also called for an increase in “number, type and structure” conventional armed forces of the United States and its allies. If such measures are not taken, the United States will likely have to increase its dependence on nuclear weapons, the report says.
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