AIR FORCE GEN. URGES CAUTION WHEN LOOKING FOR CUTS TO NUKE BUDGET

By ExchangeMonitor

Maj. Gen. Garrett Harencak, the Air Force’s Assistant Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration, acknowledged that budget austerity was forcing tough decisions about the future of the nation’s nuclear deterrent. But in a discussion at the Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Forum yesterday, he emphasized that any cost-cutting decisions should be made with ensuring there is as little impact to capabilities as possible. “We’re going to have to make tradeoffs. Everyone in uniform understands and [the Office of the Secretary of Defense] realizes we’re going to have to be as innovative and cost effective as possible,” Harencak said. “We’re not going to able to have everything we wanted. We’re committed to it. We’re committed to making rational, good, solid choices that allow for the greatest options and capabilities.” Among those capabilities, Harencak backed up the nuclear triad of nuclear submarines, ICBMs and bombers. “My best military advice is it’s pretty damn affordable when you look at what you’re able to do as a nation, as a military,” he said.

Barry Blechman, the co-founder of the Stimson Center, suggested that money spent on nuclear weapons would be better spent on weapons that are more frequently used, especially as the Obama Administration moves to further reduce the size and utility of the nation’s nuclear stockpile. However, David Mosher, the director of the Congressional Budget Office’s National Security Division, said significant stockpile reductions would not necessarily translate into significant savings. The CBO is currently analyzing the 10-year cost of the nation’s nuclear deterrent for Congress. “The cost of staying in the nuclear business is relatively high regardless of your force structure,” Mosher said, adding: “The only way you really save money in the nuclear business is if you walk away from one of the legs of the triad.”

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