British press: "US is capable of destroying Russian nuclear launchers with conventional weapons"
The British newspaper The Guardian published an article showing that the US and NATO are capable of destroying Russian and Chinese nuclear launchers using conventional weapons.
Professors Dan Plesch and Manuel Galileo of the University of London describe a “quiet revolution” that reflects the rise of US military power relative to Moscow and Beijing, particularly in the area of missile Technologies.
Plesch and Galilei write that the United States has "the current ability to have non-nuclear forces that can outpace the nuclear forces of Russia and China," giving it a military advantage over the two countries.
According to the authors, Russia has 150 nuclear launchers. weapons, and China has about 70, some 2500 km from the nearest border. All of them could be reached by US JASSM and Tomahawk air-launched cruise missiles in just over two hours as part of a preliminary strike to prevent a nuclear launch.
"The United States and its allies can threaten even the most stealthy and mobile strategic forces of Russia and China," — the authors write, having at their disposal approximately 3500 JASSM missiles and 4000 Tomahawks. Thanks to new developments, JASSM (air-to-ground) missiles can be launched on pallets using the Rapid Dragon system from unmodified standard transport aircraft such as the C-17 Globemaster or C-130 Hercules.
The strategic question, both authors argue, is whether Russia or China fears U.S. military capabilities to the point of justifying a new arms race. “The 2024 U.S. threat assessment itself identified Chinese fears of a U.S. first strike as a motive for China to expand its nuclear arsenal,” they said.
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