The recent successful launch of an unarmed Minuteman III missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California was welcome news, but concerns about America’s deteriorating nuclear deterrent continue.
Only the U.S., among all the nuclear powers, has allowed its strategic deterrent to deteriorate. As noted in our recent report, Rep. Thornberry (R-Tx), chair of the House Armed Service Committee) stated that “Our warheads and delivery systems have all been neglected and are aging out at about the same time [that other states are modernizing their nuclear weapons systems.”
Writing in the Wall Street Journal, retired Vice Admiral and former Defense Nuclear Agency Director Robert R. Monroe worried that “None of the presidential candidates is talking about it, but one of the most important issues in the 2016 election should be the precarious decline of America’s nuclear forces….” He criticized President Obama’s goal of a “world without nuclear weapons” as nonsensical and damaging, and urged the modernization of the U.S. arsenal.
In 2014, Defense.gov reported that “then-Defense Secretary Hagel worried that ‘underfunding and a focus on two wars allowed the status of the nuclear deterrent to degrade. Service members accomplished the missions in the nuclear enterprise thanks to their own ‘heroic efforts.”
“The internal and external reviews [Hagel ordered] show that a consistent lack of investment and support for our nuclear forces over far too many years has left us with too little margin to cope with mounting stresses,’ Hagel said.
“The reviews found evidence of systematic problems. These include manning, infrastructure and skill deficiencies. The reviews found ‘a culture of micromanagement and over-inspection,’ the secretary said. Finally, the reviews found inadequate communication, follow-up and accountability.
“The root cause has been a lack of sustained focus, attention and resources, resulting in a pervasive sense that a career in the nuclear enterprise offers too few opportunities for growth and advancement,’ Hagel said.”
A Heritage Foundation review concurred with Admiral Monroe’s views. According to the study, “Fiscal uncertainty and a steady decline in resources for the nuclear weapons enterprise have negatively affected U.S. nuclear weapons readiness.
“Admiral C. D. Haney, Commander, U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), recently testified that “[i]n recent years the percentage of spending on nuclear forces has gradually declined to only 2.5% of total DOD spending in 2013—a figure near historic lows,…”
“Admiral Haney went on to note that the sequestration-level reductions in FY 2013 had negatively affected STRATCOM’s readiness and had the potential to further affect U.S. capabilities in the future. While he noted that it was impossible to tell just what effects sequestration would have, he observed that the existing freeze on hiring new personnel and furlough of the workforce during the summer of 2013 had diminished the human capacity needed, resulting in a lessening of STRATCOM’s readiness through lack of research and development, modernization, and know-how…
“From an aging nuclear weapons infrastructure and workforce, to the need to recapitalize all three legs of the nuclear triad, to the need to conduct life extension programs while maintaining a self-imposed nuclear weapons test moratorium, to limiting the spread of nuclear know-how and the means to deliver nuclear weapons, to adversaries who are modernizing their nuclear forces, there is no shortage of challenges on the horizon.”
An Unclassified Defense Department review found that problems with the U.S. deterrent “Can be divided into several categories: longstanding, known problems that remained unaddressed and so became, over time, under-reported; known problems that were addressed but the corrective actions made the problem worse (or created new problems); and problems that were common knowledge in the field but which were never communicated to leadership. Significantly, the review determined that many of these problems were inextricably interrelated, with one problem begetting another….
The review team made clear that this essential mission requires refocused attention and resources at all levels of the Department. … the review surveyed an aging nuclear enterprise with a focus on sustainment, operations and maintenance (O&M) funding, and infrastructure issues. The review determined that as this infrastructure continues to age, sustainment will become increasingly more difficult, time-consuming and expensive.
Findings included:
- The lack of “weapon system” approach to the ICBM force, leading to disparate and inefficient sustainment and investment decisions for different system components;
- Component issues resulting from an aging, unique, and (relative to other weapons programs) small-sized, programs and systems; Serious shortfalls in basic O&M requirements; and
- Shipyard inefficiency caused by use of obsolete and/or temporary facilities.
- Finally, looking at the organization of the nuclear enterprise, the internal review echoed the finding of the external review regarding the absence, at the departmental level, of an integrated “nuclear enterprise.” This absence led to reduced awareness of issues in the nuclear field, particularly those issues that cut across individual stovepipes.
The second essential requirement is that there is no particular damage cialis 5 mg continue reading for source to retina if ED drugs are used regularly for a certain period of time. It is important that any individual struggling with such a condition seek treatment discount levitra no rx from medical practitioners. We know that it’s a common nature of people to search for levitra sales online things good quality products at a low dose rate over several weeks or months, and the seeds remain in the prostate gland permanently. The ayurveda text Bhava prakaasha, explains the medicinal properties of vidaarikanda or Pueraria tuberosa as follows: Vidaari is sweet to taste , has cooling properties, levitra wholesale heavy to digest and contains moisture and stickiness .
The General Accounting Office’s 10-year budget estimates for sustaining and modernizing U.S. nuclear weapons estimates that $178.8 billion will be needed to upgrade nuclear delivery systems, $103.5 billion will be needed for nuclear stockpile & security, and $37.5 billion for command, control, and communications systems.