The United States appears set to embark upon a significant military buildup. President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget increases funding for shipbuilding, aircraft production, missile production, Golden Dome, and many other critical programs.
What should not be lost in the shuffle, though, is the need to redeploy theater nuclear forces to the Western Pacific.
North Korea routinely threatens to turn American, South Korean, and Japanese cities into a “sea of fire.” China continued to build up its nuclear arsenal, including precision missiles designed for low-yield nuclear attacks in East Asia. Yet Washington has, since the end of the Cold War, not deployed an offsetting regional nuclear deterrent.
While the US maintains ballistic missile submarine patrols in the Pacific, these stealthy platforms are generally loaded with less discriminate high-yield weapons meant to be held in reserve as a secure second-strike capability. These systems were designed primarily to deter an attack on the American homeland, not an attack on US and allied forces overseas. Allies and adversaries alike know this.
Our allies—particularly South Korea and Japan—have become increasingly concerned about the credibility of America’s commitment to their defense, in part due to North Korea’s and China’s nuclear breakout. Indeed, these concerns are so acute that many South Koreans are again thinking of establishing their own nuclear weapons program.
