Second Cold War Could Be Brewing, U.S. And Russia Wants More Nuclear Weapons

Since the end of the first Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, the world was under the impression that nuclear weapons were on the decline. Countries have made several agreements with regards to disarmament and until recently, this seemed to be going well. Unfortunately, things seem to have turned for the worse. Russia is now confirmed to have the most powerful nuclear weapon ever made and President Donald Trump wants to increase the number of nuclear weapons on hand.

According to a leaked copy of the Trump administration’s first nuclear posture review (NPR), which was obtained by The Huffington Post, the president wants more nuclear bombs in his arsenal. A lot more.

This wasn’t the first time that the current sitting POTUS has expressed interest in multiplying the number of nuclear missiles in the country. In fact, he previously declared that he wanted ten times as many nuclear weapons, which many experts in the field considered an insane pronouncement.

In the review, it seems the people surround the president finally managed to talk him down to reduce that number, but it’s still a lot compared to what the U.S. has now. What’s more, the NPR indicates that the government wants more low-yield nukes, which would make them more precise. Larger nuclear missiles are simply too big in the scale of their explosion.

In this case, it seems the U.S. and Russia are at odds in their approach. According to the NPR, Vladimir Putin and his military have been developing a bomb called Kanyon, which reportedly has a 100-megaton payload.

Speaking to Futurism, as defense analyst and military historian H. I. Sutton notes that this is the first time that the U.S. officially acknowledged the existence of Kanyon. Considering what it can do, it’s not hard to see why.

If details are to be believed, the bomb can be delivered in the form of a torpedo, which can travel 6,213 miles autonomously. Once it hits a target, the bomb could then wipe out up to eight million people in an instant.