In a speech to senior officers at the Quantico Navy base near Washington, D.C. on September 30, US President Donald Trump warned that Russia and China are gradually catching up with the US in the number of subscribers. He affirmed that the US is still 25 years ahead but the trend shows that these two countries are shortening the gap.
According to RT, Mr. Trump said that Russia is currently second in the number of Submarines, followed by China and predicted that in just the next 5 years, these two countries could reach nuclear parity. He also revealed that he deployed a nuclear Submarine after feeling "threatened" by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's statement regarding the "Dead Hand" nuclear launch system.
The US leader called the nuclear Submarine the most deadly weapon ever built. He stressed that US subspects cannot be detected by sophisticated technologies, something Russia and China have yet to achieve.
Meanwhile, a defense industry study published in China in September showed that Beijing is developing an AI system that detects Submarine with an accuracy of up to 95%, combining data from sonar buoys, underwater sensors, radar and salinity and water temperatures.
On the Russian side, President Vladimir Putin affirmed that the country's Submarine has a military advantage when it is capable of diving under the Arctic ice and disappearing from radar. Moscow has added eight Borei-class nuclear attack subscribers since the 2000s, the latest of which, the Knyaz Pozharsky, has just been launched.
Mr. Putin also recently signaled cooperation when he declared his readiness to comply with the New START treaty for another year after its expiration, provided that the US does the same. The treaty aims to limit nuclear arsenal and is expected to end in February next year.
