United States Navy Adm. Richard Correll, in his first public address since becoming Commander of U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), listed his “five significant threat vectors” of concern.
“At the top of the list would be cyber as a contested domain each and every day,” said Adm. Correll, speaking at the Nuclear Deterrence Summit in Arlington, Virginia, in January 2026.
As USSTRATCOM Commander, Adm. Correll is responsible for the nation’s nuclear triad of intercontinental ballistic missiles, strategic bombers and nuclear missile submarines, as well as nuclear command, control and communications (NC3).
Cyber threats have the potential to harm U.S. nuclear readiness and other critical infrastructure “without firing a shot,” the Brookings think tank said in an October 2025 report. The 2026 National Defense Strategy calls for bolstering cyberdefenses for the U.S. military and certain civilian targets as well as developing capabilities to deter or degrade cyber threats.
“Right below [cyber] is counter-U.S. space capabilities — in other words, assured space capabilities regardless of capabilities being fielded by any potential adversary to put at risk our ability to develop what we need from space that enhances the joint force,” Adm. Correll said at the summit, according to a Defense Daily report.
Adm. Correll’s other three threat vectors, according to Defense Daily:
- The contested electromagnetic spectrum (EMS), which includes the frequencies used by communications equipment: radios, GPS, cellphones and remote-controlled devices, according to a 2020 Department of War report. The U.S., once nearly alone while operating in the EMS, now competes with commercial interests and the militaries of strategic competitors, the report said. “And it’s broader than electronic warfare,” Adm. Correll said. “It’s the ability to understand what’s happening in the electromagnetic spectrum, maneuver for advantage in that spectrum, and being able to deliver whatever capability is needed.”
- New missile systems that challenge U.S. missile warning and tracking architecture. “Keeping pace with that, maintaining our advantage and ability to track whatever systems are fielded and then, on the defensive side … how do we think about the assured command and control that you have to sustain for your strategic warheads,” Adm. Correll said.
- The U.S. supply chain, which affects the defense industrial base, national laboratories and USSTRATCOM. “Do you understand where the risks are in that supply chain? How are you accounting for [them]?” Adm. Correll asked.
During the change-of-command ceremony at USTRATCOM headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, Adm. Correll emphasized that while threats may change, the mission of USTRATCOM does not. “The No. 1 priority remains the same: strategic deterrence,” he said.