Why the U.S. Military Needs a New Sea-Launched Nuclear Cruise Missile

Nuclear blackmail has emerged as a political bargaining chip for the Chinese. Adm. Charles Richard, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, warned on Sept. 13 that China’s nuclear breakout “enables China to execute any plausible nuclear employment strategy.” “I like to think of this as the final brick in the wall of a military designed to confront a peer nuclear-capable opponent, in other words, us, the United States, and be able to coerce them,” Richard said. “And coercion is something that nuclear forces have been used for throughout history.” “We don’t do that, but others have done it to us, and…