U.S. nuclear commander warns of deterrence “crisis” against Russia and China.

This was announced in the statement by the U.S. Nuclear Commander, the American publication DefenseNews reports.

The head of U.S. Strategic Command, which oversees the nuclear arsenal, warned Congress that Washington is facing heightened nuclear deterrence risk when it comes to Russia and China.

“The war in Ukraine and China’s nuclear trajectory — their strategic breakout — demonstrates that we have a deterrence and security guarantee gap based on the threat of limited nuclear deployment,” Adm. Charles Richard told the Senate’s strategic forces panel.

Richard is a member of the Nuclear Weapons Council, and his report was delivered during the first hearing assembled by the Senate Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee.

The panel was expected to hear testimony from the interagency panel’s six voting members who are delegated to manage nuclear policy.

“The nation and our allies have not faced a crisis like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in over 30 years,” said Richard. “President Putin simultaneously intruded into a sovereign nation while using thinly veiled nuclear threats to deter U.S. and NATO intervention.”

He also noted that China is watching the war in Ukraine closely and is likely to use nuclear coercion to their advantage in the future.

Their intent is to achieve military capability for subjugation of Taiwan by 2027 if not earlier.

Richard said China has doubled its nuclear arsenal in the last two years, despite expectations it would take Beijing until the end of the decade to do so.

“The biggest and most noticeable one is the expansion from zero to at least 360 solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile silos,” he said, noting that China has also made significant progress in its air- and submarine-launched nuclear-capable missiles.

The most of the US defense budget is spent to support the nuclear triad – now it is 6.4% of the defense budget – but it is much lower than 17% of the budget in 1962.