Navy Vice Adm. Richard Correll testifies Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, in Washington, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to consider his nomination to become commander of U.S. Strategic Command. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes) (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s pick to lead U.S. Strategic Command said Thursday he would provide his best military advice as the president pushes to restart nuclear weapons testing after more than 30 years.
Navy Vice Adm. Richard Correll, the current deputy head of the command, said he looked forward to supporting the president’s priorities if he is confirmed to lead the command responsible for nuclear deterrence.
But he also told the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing that he “wouldn’t presume” Trump’s announcement that the U.S. will start testing nuclear weapons “on an equal basis” with other nations “meant nuclear testing.”
“Neither China or Russia has conducted a nuclear explosive test so I’m not reading anything into it or reading anything out of it,” Correll said. He noted that the U.S. ratified a 1963 treaty that prohibits atmospheric, underwater and outer space testing.
The U.S., along with Russia and China, is also a signatory to a 1996 treaty that prohibits “any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion,” though the U.S. never ratified it and Russia in 2023 rescinded its ratification.
China is rapidly building up its nuclear arsenal while Russia has the most nuclear warheads in the world. The Kremlin said this week that Russia had successfully tested a nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable missile as well as a nuclear sea drone that could set off a tsunami.
It is not clear if Trump in his announcement was referring to nuclear weapon test explosions or a test of a nuclear-capable weapon system. Correll said it was possible Trump was referring to a nuclear-powered weapon delivery system. The last time the U.S. tested a nuclear weapon was in 1992.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies Thursday there was “indeed” an ongoing moratorium on nuclear weapons testing and said that until Trump’s announcement, “we were not aware that anyone was conducting testing.”
“If the reference was to the testing of the Burevestnik, that is not a nuclear test in any way,” he said, referring to Russia’s nuclear-powered cruise missile.
Russia has never carried out an explosive nuclear weapons test, the Soviet Union last tested in 1990 and China conducted its known last test in 1996. Only North Korea has carried out a nuclear test in recent decades, most recently in 2017.
Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday that other countries “seem to all be nuclear testing — we halted many years ago, but with others doing testing, I think it’s appropriate that we do also.”
The Congressional Research Service estimated in August that it would take the U.S. 24 to 36 months to resume nuclear weapon testing after the president gives the order. The U.S. regularly tests its nuclear-capable weapons, with the Navy testing its submarine-launched Trident missiles in September.
Correll on Thursday said the U.S. had a “rigorous testing program” of its nuclear capabilities and pointed out that the adequacy and efficacy of its nuclear weapons stockpile is certified annually.
“I have absolute confidence… [that] those systems will perform if we ever need them to perform,” he said.
A career submariner, Correll has served as deputy commander of U.S. Strategic Command since December 2022. He was previously the director of strategic integration for the Navy.
