Pentagon Official Says US May Increase The Number Of Deployed Nuclear Leaks

Pentagon. (Wikimedia Commons/US Navy)

JAKARTA - The United States may have increased the number of nuclear warheads deployed, but it is the president's authority to dismiss the matter, Defense Department (Pentagon) officials said.

Acting Assistant Secretary of US Defense for Space Policy Vipin Narang said, "without any changes in the nuclear trajectory" of China, North Korea and Russia, "we may reach a point where changes in the size or posture of our deployed troops are currently needed."

"There is no need to increase the current supply, but adjustments to the number of capabilities deployed may be needed if our enemy continues to follow their current path," he said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies yesterday.

Narang added, "only the President can make that decision," and this move means "he has concluded that such changes are needed to deter the enemy, defend the United States, and fulfill our commitments to our allies and partners."

He also said, referring to US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Washington does not need to numerically offset its competitors with a different number of warheads or more than their "total number of combined forces" to deter them.

"In fact, on the contrary: we are committed to deploying only what is needed to credible block the enemy and protect the American people as well as our allies and partners," Narang said.