U.S. Air Force Undersecretary Melissa Dalton on Wednesday said Washington faces an "unprecedented" security environment.

"We face for the first time in our nation's history, two strategic competitors that are nuclear states with large and growing nuclear arsenals," she said of China and Russia during remarks at the 2024 Air, Space & Cyber Conference near Washington, D.C., the Department of Defense quoted her as saying.

Time for some democracy