US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard has warned that Pakistan's long-range ballistic missile development could include missiles capable of targeting the US.
In a testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Gabbard stated that while the US nuclear deterrent remains a key safeguard against strategic threats, countries like Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan are advancing a range of missile systems capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional payloads that could reach the American homeland.
The US Intelligence Community (IC) assesses that threats to the Homeland will expand collectively to more than 16,000 missiles by 2035, from the current assessed figure of more than 3,000 missiles.
Gabbard noted that China and Russia are developing advanced delivery systems meant to be capable of penetrating or bypassing US missile defences, while North Korea's ICBMs are already capable of reaching American soil.
She added that Pakistan's long-range missile programme could evolve to include ICBMs with the ability to strike the US homeland, and that Iran has previously demonstrated space launch and other technology it could use to begin to develop a militarily viable ICBM before 2035.
