By Barbara Starr & Zachary Cohen @ CNN.com, Feb. 2, 4:18 pm

Washington -- Just as the White House is caught in a political minefield over the Russia investigation, the Pentagon is taking its toughest line yet against Russia's resurgent nuclear forces. In its newly released Nuclear Posture Review, the Defense Department has focused much of its multibillion nuclear effort on an updated nuclear deterrence focused on Russia. "Russia considers the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to be the principal threats to its contemporary geopolitical ambitions," the report says [....]

The report also publicly acknowledges, for the first time, that Russia is "developing" a "new intercontinental, nuclear armed, nuclear-powered, undersea autonomous torpedo."Known in English as the "Status-6" system, the program is described by US officials as essentially a drone-type device fired underwater that can potentially travel thousands of miles and strike US coastal targets such as military bases or cities. Upon detonation, the device is designed to cause large zones of radioactive contamination. Some analysts have called it a "doomsday weapon," and US Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, has labeled the concept "destabilizing." [....]