Pakistan emerging as direct nuclear threat to US: Intel Chief Tulsi Gabbard

United States intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard has warned lawmakers that Pakistan’s evolving long-range ballistic missile programme may eventually include systems capable of striking the American homeland. Her remarks came during testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, as she outlined rapidly expanding global missile threats.

Gabbard, serving as the US Director of National Intelligence, cautioned that the number of missiles posing a risk to the United States could surge from more than 3,000 today to over 16,000 by 2035. She stressed that America’s secure nuclear deterrent continued to protect the nation but noted that several adversaries were advancing both conventional and nuclear delivery systems at pace.

Pakistan’s potential ICBM capability

Gabbard told senators that “Pakistan's long-range ballistic missile development potentially could include ICBMs with a range capable of striking the Homeland.”

She also highlighted that “the threats to the US were set to expand collectively from more than 3,000 missiles at present to more than 16,000 missiles by 2035.”

Her assessment placed Pakistan alongside major missile powers such as Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, all identified as actively researching or developing advanced missile systems.

Expanding global missile threats

The DNI warned that “China and Russia are developing advanced delivery systems meant to be capable of penetrating or bypassing US missile defences.”

She added that “North Korea's ICBMs can already reach US soil, and it is committed to expanding its nuclear arsenal.”

With Iran, Gabbard noted that Tehran had shown technological capacity that could enable it to “begin to develop a militarily viable ICBM before 2035, should Tehran attempt to pursue the capability.”

However, she said that updated assessments would depend on the impact of Operation Epic Fury, which she described as having caused “devastating strikes” on Iran’s missile production networks.

Mmissile numbers to rise sharply

The ‘Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community’, presented alongside her testimony, warned that despite the rise of cheaper one-way attack drones, states would continue prioritising high-end missiles capable of threatening the United States.

”However, their militaries almost certainly will plan to pair their high-end missiles with cheaper, expendable systems to stress US missile defences,” the report said.

Regional powers increasingly willing to use force

The document also pointed to a wider shift in global security behaviour, stating that many regional powers were now more prepared to use force directly or indirectly to advance their interests. Countries such as Egypt, Israel, Pakistan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates were cited as using a mix of lethal support, proxy groups or their own military assets to influence regional conflicts.

The report concluded that many states were employing coercive tactics that fall below the traditional threshold of war, noting that “these include acts of sabotage, assassinations, detentions, non-lethal attacks, and the use of migration as a weapon.”

(PTI)