The United States has announced the deployment of a new long-range nuclear missile aboard its stealth submarines to deter what it calls Washington’s potential adversaries.
The US Department of Defense claimed in a statement on Tuesday that the low-yield warhead was deployed on the USS Tennessee submarine patrolling in the Atlantic Ocean to deter "potential adversaries, like Russia," and in response to Russian tests of similar weapons.
"This supplemental capability strengthens deterrence and provides the United States a prompt, more survivable low-yield strategic weapon," John Rood, the undersecretary of defense for policy, said in the statement.
"(It) supports our commitment to extended deterrence; and demonstrates to potential adversaries that there is no advantage to limited nuclear employment because the United States can credibly and decisively respond to any threat scenario," Rood added.
The new missiles have sparked fresh concerns as critics say the submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead will lower the threshold for using nuclear weapons.
In August, the US withdrew from the 1988 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty with Russia. The pact banned all land-based mid-range missiles. Washington's withdrawal from the INF has renewed tensions between the two nuclear powers.
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