US facing 'two nuclear-capable, strategic peer adversaries' from Russia and China, says Strategic Command chief

US is currently facing "two nuclear-capable, strategic peer adversaries at the same time" from Russia and China, US Strategic Command (STRATCOM) chief Admiral Charles Richard has said.

Speaking at the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), Richard on Tuesday said, "For the first time in history, the nation is facing two nuclear-capable, strategic peer adversaries at the same time, both of whom must be deterred differently," US Strategic Command wrote in a tweet.

Regarding China, Richard said that "they are rapidly expanding their strategic capabilities and are on pace to double their nuclear weapons stockpile by the end of the decade," the US Department of Defence said in a statement.

Russia, however, remains the "pacing nuclear strategic threat," aggressively engaged in conventional and nuclear capability modernisation, which is around 80 per cent complete, he said, adding that the US nuclear modernisation effort has not yet started, the statement read.

Given these threats, modernisation of the nuclear triad is the department's top priority, he said.

"Facing these threats, Spacecom is focused on enhancing existing and developing new space awareness capabilities that will provide better insight into activity throughout the space domain, including potential adversary activities," he added.

Earlier, in February, the head of US Strategic Command had called for military and federal leaders to reimagine methods of deterring aggressive action from rivals such as China and Russia, including the "real possibility" of nuclear war, Fox News had reported.

It further reported that the STRATCOM Commander had warned that China and Russia have "begun to aggressively challenge international norms" in "ways not seen since the height of the Cold War".

( With inputs from ANI )