Seapower magazine covered the Atlantic Council’s conference on US and Global Missile Defence, highlighting attempts by the US military to reassure Russian leadership that its ballistic missile defence is not designed to antagonize Russia:
The nation’s second highest military officer on May 28 added China to America’s standing assurance to Russia that the U.S. ballistic missile defense (BMD) programs are not aimed at blocking its nuclear ballistic missile deterrence system.ADM James A. “Sandy” Winnefeld Jr., the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted that U.S. leaders repeatedly have “told Russia that we will not use our missile defense system to deter” that nation’s intercontinental ballistic missile capability. “Rather, we rely for our deterrence to Russia on the threat of [nuclear] retaliation.”