The drills come at a time of high global tensions, with the China telling the US that they are ready for "any type of war".

By Conor Wilson, News Reporter

11:17, Fri, Mar 7, 2025 | UPDATED: 11:29, Fri, Mar 7, 2025

Troops wearing kit for nuclear attacks

The US conducts drills like this roughly twice a year (Image: U.S Army/Marshall R. Mason)

US forces have conducted nuclear attacks drills as global tensions continue to skyrocket. The Department of Defence (DOD) confirmed yesterday it was putting troops through a range of scenarios to test the preparedness for war.

Specialist units donned protective kit as they were put through their paces "to validate the team's ability to gather evidence to support presidential decision-making during a nuclear attack scenario." Brian Kohler, director of Nuclear Forensics, Energy and Survivability with DOD's Office of Nuclear Matters, said: "National technical nuclear forensics is absolutely a part of nuclear deterrence by messaging to our adversaries that the US government has the capability, should there be a nuclear detonation." The exercises were held over a month ago but were only confirmed by the DOD yesterday.

US Pauses Tariffs On Canada, Mexico USMCA Trade Until April 2

Donald Trump's decision to impose tariffs on China has raised tensions between the two countries (Image: Getty)

The announcement came just hours after China warned the US that they were prepared for "any type of war" following Washington’s decision to impose tariffs on Beijing.

The DOD said: "The exercise is an opportunity for participating entities to practice and enhance operational readiness to respond in the event of a nuclear incident in the United States or overseas."

Nuclear attack drills are common amongst the armed forces of nuclear powers as troops demonstrate their ability to use the weapons should the order be given.

The DOD confirmed that similar exercises are conducted roughly twice a year, with the most recent one being planned since spring 2024.

Timothy Jacomb-Hood, the senior scientific advisor for the Office of Nuclear Matters, said the special units look for radioactive debris to analyse.

The Pentagon In Arlington, Virginia

The Pentagon said that it carries out drills like this roughly twice a year (Image: Getty)

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He added: "When a nuclear detonation occurs, you see the traditional mushroom cloud. And in that cloud are the debris that we want to collect. But we need to do various models of the detonation and the local weather to determine where the best debris is going to fall."

Drew Walter, deputy assistant secretary of defence for nuclear matters, said the ground collection task force were able to complete their goal successfully.

He said: "Our DOD team demonstrated their readiness to collect forensics-quality debris samples, working with their FBI and National Nuclear Security Administration partners.

"Our ability to gather post-detonation debris and perform nuclear forensics analysis is a key element of our nuclear deterrent."