The Pentagon is working on a major overhaul of the United States' nuclear strategy that would place greater emphasis on tactical nuclear weapons in any future conflict involving China or Russia, NBC News reports.
The American broadcaster said the proposed strategy would shift some focus away from long-range nuclear missiles towards shorter-range battlefield weapons that could be used in regional conflicts involving US allies, reports Reuters.
The review is being led by Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, who is likely to discuss the proposal during a private military event in Nebraska while visiting the US Strategic Command, which oversees the country's nuclear forces.
Officials familiar with the proposal told NBC News that the objective is to prepare for scenarios in which US allies come under attack from China or Russia while giving President Donald Trump a broader range of military responses.
"Our view is that we need credible nuclear options," a senior US Department of Defence official told NBC News.
The official said the proposal would not restrict the president's decisions during a conflict but instead "expand the president's option space by providing him with realistic and credible options and therefore strengthen deterrence".
Another official told the broadcaster the revised doctrine would offer more choices during a nuclear crisis instead of forcing an all-or-nothing response.
NBC News said Colby has long argued that US nuclear policy depends too heavily on the threat of launching long-range strategic missiles capable of destroying an adversary's nuclear arsenal.
He has instead advocated greater reliance on tactical nuclear weapons, which are smaller, shorter-range warheads intended for use against military targets rather than entire cities.
"If you actually want extended deterrence to be credible, you have to provide the nation's political leadership with nuclear capabilities that common sense indicates you could actually use," the senior defence official said.
The official added that otherwise US leaders would be left with extreme choices that potential adversaries would not consider credible, weakening deterrence.
The proposal has reopened a longstanding debate over US nuclear policy.
Supporters argue that more flexible nuclear options would strengthen deterrence, while critics say greater emphasis on tactical nuclear weapons could lower the threshold for their use by making them appear more practical during conventional conflicts.
Others believe prioritising battlefield nuclear weapons could reduce preparedness for situations requiring long-range strategic missiles.
The proposal has also drawn criticism in Congress.
A senior congressional aide familiar with the review told NBC News, "It's hard to imagine a study that is more out of line with President Trump's stated position of making our nuclear deterrent great again."
“He clearly wants more options and capabilities, not less. This study is big-time low-T,” the aide added.
NBC News noted that nuclear weapons have not been used in combat since the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, bringing the Second World War to an end.
