The weapons he boasted of included a cruise missile that he said could "reach anywhere in the world". He said of the West: "They need to take account of a new reality and understand ... [this]... is not a bluff."
Giving his annual state of the nation speech, Mr Putin used video presentations to showcase the development of two new nuclear delivery systems that he said could evade detection. One video graphic appeared to show missiles raining down on the US state of Florida.
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One system Mr Putin described included a "low-flying, difficult-to-spot cruise missile... with a practically unlimited range and an unpredictable flight path, which can bypass lines of interception and is invincible in the face of all existing and future systems of both missile defence and air defence".
Another was a submarine-launched, long-range missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.
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During the two-hour televised speech to a joint sitting of both houses of parliament, he said the weapons were a response to US development of its missile defence system.
The US State Department said it was "certainly unfortunate to have watched the video animation that depicted a nuclear attack on the United States" - adding that it was not "the behaviour of a responsible international player".
Opposition leader barred from vote
Mr Putin faces seven challengers on 18 March, although none is expected to attract widespread support. The president played no part in a raucous televised debate broadcast on Wednesday that featured the other candidates.
Absent from the campaign is prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who has been barred from running and has called on voters to boycott the poll.
President Putin has so far done little campaigning, and until now has said little about his plans for the next six years.
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