Senator Roger Wicker, the Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned that the US has no defensive capacity to fortify itself capacity against Russia's new nuclear-armed Poseidon super torpedoes and hypersonic missiles.

"Russia has developed new nuclear weapons, unlike anything in the US inventory," Wicker said at a hearing. "These are weapons for which we have no defense." 

Wicker also pointed out that Russia had a larger and more advanced strategic arsenal compared to that of the US.

"Russia possesses a larger and more modern nuclear arsenal than we do... It can also build numerous additional nuclear weapons in short order," Wicker said. 

Read more: Putin announces Russia suspends New START nuke pact participation

This comes after Putin announced Russia's decision to suspend its membership in the New START nuclear pact participation. 

He explained that the US has issued an intolerable ultimatum to Russia on the New START treaty: Moscow must comply with the document's requirements, while Washington will do whatever it wants. 

Putin described NATO's demand that Russia returns to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which includes providing access to nuclear sites for inspections, as "absurd".

Read more: Russia conducts nuclear, ballistic missile exercises 

Back on March 1st, Russian nuclear submarines set out for drills in the Barents Sea as mobile missile launchers roamed the snowy forests of Siberia after President Vladimir Putin ordered his Defense Ministry to put the country's deterrence forces on high alert in light of the rising tensions in Ukraine.   

Several warships tasked with protecting the Kola Peninsula in northwestern Russia had joined the exercises. Additionally, several nuclear submarines participated in maneuvers for the sake of training the forces during stormy weather conditions.