On October 21, Trump suddenly announced to the outside that the first meeting of the Russian dollar in Budapest was scheduled to be suspended temporarily. The reason is very direct, is "not talking about the results, not wanting to do nothing."But no one expected, behind this "delayed meeting", soon sparked a wave of shock against the US-Russian nuclear forces.
While the outside world was still guessing whether U.S.-Russia relations would further cool down, the U.S. Strategic Command did not wait for public opinion to heat up, and immediately launched a nuclear command and control exercise code-named "Global Thunder 26"-what is this an ordinary military exercise? Ah, it is obvious that all the U.S. military's "Trinity" nuclear strike forces are pulled out to show Russia its muscles.
According to the arrangement of this exercise by the US military, several B-52H strategic bombers painted in dark gray took off one after another on the runway of Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota.
The aircraft can fly 16,000 kilometers, carry 20 cruise missiles, and fly westwards to cover the core of the western region of Russia.
Before the B-52H could fly far away, the B-2 stealth bomber from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri also took off. The focus of this exercise was "how to carry out a nuclear strike after breaking through the enemy's air defense network." It is equivalent to openly telling Russia: "Your air defense line cannot stop us."
More important than the dispatch of equipment is the cooperation of the air command center-the E-6B Mercury nuclear warfare command aircraft also launched into space simultaneously. This aircraft is nicknamed the "Air Nuclear Brain". Even if the ground command system is destroyed, it can directly receive the president's nuclear strike order and then pass it to the combat troops on the sea, land and air.
During this exercise, cross-service command transmission was practiced several times to ensure that "no matter what happens, nuclear strike instructions can be transmitted in place." On the ground, the silo troops responsible for the Minuteman-3 intercontinental missile were not idle, following the rhythm of the exercise;
More hidden, the Navy sent a strategic nuclear submarine of the Ohio class to run deep into the ocean, simulating the launch of a tri-fork 2D5 submarine missile.
In other words, the U.S. military has gone all over the road of the three nuclear strikes on land, sea and air.Those who understand it can see clearly that Trump is trying to use nuclear deterrence to force Russia to make concessions on the Ukrainian issue - - first light up the muscles, and then talk about the conditions.
Putin's 24 Hours Hard: Russian Armed Forces Exercise
Faced with this "simulated deterrence" by the US military, Putin's response was faster and ruthless than everyone thought. Instead of playing a verbal confrontation with the United States, it gave the hardest response directly with live-fire exercises.
On the afternoon of October 22, less than 24 hours before Trump announced the postponement of the meeting, the Kremlin directed the order: the Russian military started a strategic nuclear deterrence exercise, and the entire process was commanded by Putin online, and the stance was special.
What the Russian army is playing this time is a "live-fire test", which is completely different from the US military's simulation exercise. On land, under Plesetsk Cosmodrome's launcher, a "Yars" intercontinental ballistic missile suddenly ignited, dragging orange-red tail flames into the sky.
This missile has great capabilities. It can be placed in a fixed silo or mounted on an off-road vehicle for mobile deployment. It can be hidden deeply and hit far-with a range of 11,000 kilometers, it can cover the U.S. mainland, and it can be equipped with several sub-guided nuclear warheads. It is particularly difficult to intercept it.
The movements in the sea are more covert: the strategic nuclear submarine "Bryansk" quietly dived in the dark waters of the Barents Sea, and suddenly surfaced in a corner of the surface. A "deep blue" submarine-launched ballistic missile roared out of the launch tube and went straight to the Kula shooting range in Kamchatka Peninsula thousands of kilometers away, and finally hit the target accurately.
You know, nuclear submarines are hidden in the ocean and are the most difficult nuclear counterattack force to deal with. The Russian army showed this hand directly this time, and its deterrence is much stronger than simply flying a few bombers.
The 95MS long-range strategic bomber did not rest, the air-based cruise missile hanged under the wing, flew to the planned airspace, and after pressing the launch button, the missile accurately hit the ground targets.The three major nuclear forces on land, sea and air simultaneously entered the field, and each equipment was actually completing a real-world ballistic launch - which was more impactful than the U.S. military's simulated exercises.
At the end of the exercise, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General Glazimov, directly to Putin: "All planned tasks have been completed, and our strategic nuclear forces can withstand the test of real bombs."
Behind nuclear confrontation: no treaty-binding game of great powers
This 24-hour nuclear confrontation looked suddenly, in fact, the concentration of contradictions spared by the long-term strategic game of the United States and Russia, and the core problem was the collapse of the arms control treaty.
As early as 2019, the United States withdrew from the INF Treaty. This important achievement that supported the control of medium and short-range missiles by the United States and Russia during the Cold War was gone, and the two countries no longer had restrictions on medium and short-range missiles. In August 2025, Russia simply cancelled its self-commitment to "not deploy ground-based medium-and short-range missiles," which was equivalent to tearing the bottom line of the last bit of restraint.
In fact, the US military has long been making arrangements on both sides: on the European side, it plans to deploy Tomahawk missiles and hypersonic weapons to Germany in 2026; on the Asia-Pacific side, it has moved the "Typhon" land-based launch system to the Philippines, and even launched live-fire launches in Australia's joint military exercise.
In other words, the U.S. military has deployed missiles on both sides of Russia’s east, which are close to the Russian border, such as missiles launched from Kaliningrad and flying to the European capital for a few minutes, which reduces the Russian military’s early warning and decision time.
Of course, Russia cannot sit and be beaten. It quickly increases the mass production of the "Hazel Tree" hypersonic missile, and is also preparing to deploy it to Belarus. It uses the strategy of "nuclear ambiguity"-simply put, it makes it difficult for opponents to tell the difference. Whether it is a conventional missile or a nuclear warhead, the United States has to be more cautious in responding, and the Russian military's deterrence flexibility has also increased.
Now between the United States and Russia there is a “unique” arms control such as the New Treaty on Strategic Weapons Reduction, but in fact the name has survived.
The US military engaged in the "Global Thunder" exercise in order to rely on its own technological advantages to overwhelm Russia; Putin engaged in live-fire exercises because Russia's economy and conventional military strength are not as good as those of the United States, and nuclear power has become the "trump card" that can be used best.
More dangerously, this "show muscle" is especially easy to scratch the gun and fire. The US military's simulated exercises and the Russian military's real-time launches are carried out in a sensitive period of intensity, the radar of both sides is watching each other's movement all day, the reconnaissance planes are also flying back near the border, and a little misjudgment, such as taking each other's exercise missiles as a real attack, can trigger a chain reaction.
Moreover, both the United States and Russia have a "trinity" nuclear strike system-nuclear submarines are hidden in the deep sea and are hard to find, bombers can take off at any time, and intercontinental missiles can be launched at the press of a button. If they really get out of control, no one will be able to bear the consequences.
This 24-hour nuclear confrontation is not so much that the United States and Russia are competing with whose nuclear power is stronger, but rather a wake-up reminder of global security: the nuclear game without treaty constraints may slide to the brink of danger at any time.
Source of information:
CCTV News: Video | Russia holds comprehensive exercise of strategic nuclear forces to test-fire intercontinental ballistic missiles
Xinmin Evening News: The fierce nuclear game between the United States and Russia before the "TPP Conference", is a new arms race coming?