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LONDON (AP) \u2014 The head of Britain\u2019s armed forces has warned that the world stands at the cusp of a \u201cthird nuclear age,\u2019\u2019 defined by multiple simultaneous challenges and weakened safeguards that kept previous threats in check.<\/p>\n
Admiral Tony Radakin, chief of the defense staff, said Britain needs to recognize the seriousness of the threats it faces, even if there is only a remote chance of Russia launching a direct nuclear attack on the U.K. or its NATO allies.<\/p>\n
While the Cold War saw two superpowers held at bay by nuclear deterrence and the past three decades were characterized by international efforts to restrict the spread of nuclear weapons, the current era is \u201caltogether more complex,\u201d Radakin said Wednesday in a speech to the Royal United Services Institute.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe are at the dawn of a third nuclear age\u2026\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cIt is defined by multiple and concurrent dilemmas, proliferating nuclear and disruptive technologies and the almost total absence of the security architectures that went before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Challenges faced by the West include Russia\u2019s threat to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, China\u2019s drive to build up its nuclear stockpiles, Iran\u2019s failure to cooperate with international efforts to limit its nuclear program, and \u201cerratic behavior\u201d by North Korea, Radakin said. All of this comes against a backdrop of increasing cyber-attacks, sabotage and disinformation campaigns aimed at destabilizing Western countries.<\/p>\n
He described the deployment of North Korean soldiers alongside Russian forces on Ukraine\u2019s border as the year\u2019s \u201cmost extraordinary development,\u2019\u2019 and warned that further deployments were possible.<\/p>\n
The annual lecture by the chief of Britain\u2019s defense staff is a tradition at RUSI, one of the country\u2019s foremost think tanks on military and strategic issues.<\/p>\n
Radakin used the lecture to make the case for continued reforms in the British military so the U.K. is prepared to respond to the changing international landscape. That includes maintaining Britain\u2019s nuclear deterrent, which is \u201cthe one part of our inventory of which Russia is most aware and has more impact on Putin than anything else,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Britain keeps at least one submarine armed with nuclear missiles at sea at all times so that it can respond in the event of a nuclear attack.<\/p>\n
The U.K. government is currently conducting a strategic defense review to determine how its armed forces should be staffed and equipped to confront the new challenges. The results are due to be published in the first half of next year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n