“We still leave open the possibility that we may have to use and employ nuclear weapons first against a strategic attack or to deter a nuclear attack,” Narang said in an interview with the Center for New American Security.
However, the central challenge is how to deter the employment of nuclear weapons by Russia, Narang said.
Russia is a nuclear peer to the US, and China is not yet a nuclear peer but is developing its capabilities, Narang said, adding not to “sleep” on North Korea.
The most likely employment of nuclear weapons in the contemporary and future security environment arises from a long and intense conventional conflict, Narang said.