Pentagon is Considering Deployment of Nuclear Missiles in Europe

The Pentagon is considering the re-deployment of nuclear cruise missiles in Europe in response to a new Russian cruise missile that the United States has charged violates a 1987 nuclear treaty, a senior Pentagon official told Congress on Wednesday.

Brian P. McKeon, deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, said U.S. cruise missile deployments are among a range of options being considered if Russia fails to return to compliance with the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty.

McKeon did not provide details of the military options being studied but said they ranged from “reactive defense, to counterforce, to counter value defense measures.”

“We don’t have ground-launched cruise missiles in Europe now obviously because they’re prohibited by the treaty,” McKeon said. “But that would obviously be one option to explore.”

The testimony came during a joint hearing on Russian treaty violations. The hearing brought together members of the House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces, and the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on terrorism, nonproliferation and trade.

The Air Force deployed nuclear-tipped BGM-109G ground-launched cruise missiles in Europe beginning in 1983 and removed and destroyed all but a handful by 1992 under the terms of the INF treaty. Six remaining missiles are preserved as museum pieces.

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