General warns about weapons not covered by nuclear arms pact with Russia

The general in charge of the U.S. nuclear arsenal said Tuesday he remains a “big supporter” of a treaty that caps the number of deployed nuclear warheads allowed by the United States and Russia, even as he expressed concern that new styles of weapons are not covered by the pact.

“It is still my view, I’ve said it multiple times, I’m a big supporter of the New START agreement,” said Gen. John Hyten, commander of U.S. Strategic Command. “I want, ideally, in my view, all nuclear weapons to be part of the next phase of the New START and not just the identified weapons in the New START Treaty.”

Hyten was testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee alongside the commander of U.S. Northern Command.

New START, which was signed by former President Obama, caps the number of nuclear warheads the United States and Russia can deploy at 1,550 each. There are also limits on the number of deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLMB) and heavy bombers equipped for nuclear warheads, as well as the number of deployed and non-deployed launchers for each.

The treaty expires in February 2021, but there is an option to extend it for another five years after that.

Nonproliferation advocates have expressed concern that President Trump will let the treaty expire after he withdrew from a separate arms treaty with Russia.

At the beginning of February, Trump officially announced he would withdraw from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which bans ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with certain ranges.

Current and former officials broadly agree Russia has been in violation of the INF Treaty for years, but there have been no reports of New START violations.

When Trump announced the INF withdrawal, the administration said no decision had been made on New START.

Trump has previously said New START is “just another bad deal” made by the Obama administration. And critics of the agreement say Russia cannot be trusted to comply with it if Moscow has already violated the INF Treaty.

Hyten, who reiterated Russia has been in violation of INF for five years, said he has talked with Trump about both New START and INF.

In his testimony, Hyten said one of the important aspects of New START is the inspection requirements, which allow the United States and Russia to examine each other’s nuclear forces.

“It gives me insight, though the verification regime, to their real capabilities,” he said. “The INF Treaty, for example, doesn’t have a verification regime anymore.”

Without New START, he said, there is “really nothing” the U.S. intelligence community can do “that can replace the eyes-on, hands-on ability to look at something.”

The issue, though, is the treaty only covers weapons that existed when it was put in place. That means technology Russia is working on, including hypersonic missiles and submarine drones, won’t be covered, Hyten said.

But Hyten also noted the United States could bring up adding those weapons to the treaty at what’s known as the Bilateral Consultative Commission, where the United States and Russia discuss issues related to the implementation of the treaty. 

“I want Russia in every treaty,” he said. “I want Russia in the INF Treaty. I want Russia in the New START treaty. I support those treaties, but they have to be parties to those treaties. It takes two to participate in treaties, at least.”