Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad

Even in a tight budgetary environment, the United States can “ill afford” not modernizing its nuclear deterrent, the head of United States Strategic Command told the House Armed Services Committee yesterday. Adm. Cecil Haney made his first appearance before the panel after taking over as StratCom commander late last year, and argued that spending on […]

The nuclear triad will survive Pentagon spending cuts in President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said yesterday. Offering a preview of the President’s budget request to reporters at the Pentagon, Hagel outlined a series of spending cuts across the Department of Defense, but singled out the nuclear triad—consisting of nuclear-capable […]

Senior Air Force officials yesterday declined to list any initial findings of a pair of Pentagon-directed reviews in the wake of a cheating scandal, but outlined an additional initiative being undertaken dubbed the “force improvement program.” Following the scandal involving cheating by 92 airmen year on a proficiency exam at Malmstrom Air Force base, Defense […]

As the Air Force considers extending the life of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, it should strongly look at keeping the ICBM in service past 2030 through incremental upgrades, according to a recently released study authored by the RAND Corp. The study, titled “The Future of the U.S. Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Force,” notes that previous […]

Airmen manning Minuteman 3 missile launch centers at Malmstrom Air Force Base got unexpected phone calls Saturday: from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. According to the Associated Press, Hagel made calls to nuclear officers in three separate launch centers while aboard a military plane on his way home from the Munich Security Conference in Germany. In […]

President Obama should order the nation’s nuclear arsenal off “hair-trigger,” Washington Post columnist Katrina vanden Heuvel said in a Jan. 21 column outlining “a few dramatic and long-overdue actions” Obama could announce in the State of the Union address next week. The actions could help Obama “lead more forcefully in areas vital to the country […]

Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), the chairman of the House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, lauded Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s decision to launch a pair of reviews of the Air Force’s nuclear mission. “I am pleased to see the Department of Defense’s announcement of several proactive measures to begin addressing personnel failures within […]

President Obama should order the nation’s nuclear arsenal off “hair-trigger,” Washington Post columnist Katrina vanden Heuvel said in a Jan. 21 column outlining “a few dramatic and long-overdue actions” Obama could announce in the State of the Union address next week. The actions could help Obama “lead more forcefully in areas vital to the country […]

Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), the chairman of the House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, lauded Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s decision to launch a pair of reviews of the Air Force’s nuclear mission. “I am pleased to see the Department of Defense’s announcement of several proactive measures to begin addressing personnel failures within […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 5/16/2014 U.S. strategic forces conducted a massive nuclear response drill this week dubbed “Global Lightning 14,” but officials say it’s not in response to Russia’s nuclear exercises last week. According to a statement from U.S. Strategic Command, the five-day exercise that was slated to wrap up May 16 included 10 B-52 […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 5/2/2014 Calling the refurbishment of the air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) a “priority” for the nation, Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) was critical of the Obama Administration’s decision this year to delay the replacement of the weapon in a speech this week at the Reserve Officers Association. “The Air Force will continue to […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/25/2014 After surveying its ICBM force as part of a widespread force improvement program, the Air Force is turning its eyes to its bomber wings. Lt. Col. John Sheets, director of Public Affairs at Air Force Global Strike Command, confirmed this week that the service’s bomber wings would take part in […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/18/2014 CRANE NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER, Ind.—With the defense budget continuing to tighten, the Navy and Air Force must expand their cooperation on the nation’s fleet of delivery vehicles, senior officials at a Strategic Deterrence Conference here said this week, with Navy Vice Adm. Terry Benedict advocating an “intelligent commonality” approach […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/11/2014 The Department of Defense this week announced its force structure implementation plan under the New START Treaty, spreading cuts out across the three legs of the nuclear triad. Under the plan, the Pentagon will trim the size of its deployed intercontinental ballistic missile force by 50 ICBMs to 400 but […]

Airmen manning Minuteman 3 missile launch centers at Malmstrom Air Force Base got unexpected phone calls Saturday: from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. According to the Associated Press, Hagel made calls to nuclear officers in three separate launch centers while aboard a military plane on his way home from the Munich Security Conference in Germany. In […]

As the Air Force considers extending the life of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, it should strongly look at keeping the ICBM in service past 2030 through incremental upgrades, according to a recently released study authored by the RAND Corp. The study, titled “The Future of the U.S. Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Force,” notes that previous […]

Senior Air Force officials yesterday declined to list any initial findings of a pair of Pentagon-directed reviews in the wake of a cheating scandal, but outlined an additional initiative being undertaken dubbed the “force improvement program.” Following the scandal involving cheating by 92 airmen year on a proficiency exam at Malmstrom Air Force base, Defense […]

The nuclear triad will survive Pentagon spending cuts in President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said yesterday. Offering a preview of the President’s budget request to reporters at the Pentagon, Hagel outlined a series of spending cuts across the Department of Defense, but singled out the nuclear triad—consisting of nuclear-capable […]

In the latest scandal to hit the Air Force’s nuclear force, 34 airmen that stood watch over the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missile fleet have been accused of cheating on a proficiency exam. New Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James and Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said in a joint press conference yesterday that an […]

Maj. Gen. Michael Carey, the commander in charge of the Air Force’s intercontinental ballistic missiles, was relieved of his command late last week because of a “loss of trust and confidence in his leadership and judgment,” Air Force Global Strike Command said in a statement. Carey, a 35-year veteran of the Air Force, was removed […]

In another black mark for the Air Force’s nuclear mission, missileers at the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missile fields twice this year were cited for leaving blast doors open in their control centers, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The blast doors that separate the ICBMs and the underground launch control center are a key defense against […]

Another Air Force nuclear unit has stumbled on an inspection, this time with the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana failing a recent nuclear surety inspection by the Air Force Global Strike Inspector General. In an Aug. 13 statement, Global Strike Command said the missile wing received an “unsatisfactory” rating because […]

An Air Force officer in charge of a unit that failed a nuclear surety inspection earlier this month was relieved of his command late last week, though officials at Malmstrom Air Force Base said the firing was not connected to the inspection failure. Col. David Lynch, the commander of the 341st Security Forces Group, was […]

Maj. Gen. Garrett Harencak, the Air Force’s Assistant Chief of Staff for Nuclear Deterrence and Nuclear Integration, said recent reports that morale is low among the Air Force’s nuclear crews are overblown, and he said he observed “exceedingly good” spirits among airmen. Citing an unreleased Rand Corp. report and an email from senior leaders at […]

A senior Navy official is likely to lead U.S. Strategic Command for the first time since 2004. President Obama yesterday nominated Adm. Cecil Haney to take over for Air Force Gen. Robert Kehler, who has headed up StratCom since January 2011. If he is confirmed by the Senate, Haney would be the first Navy leader […]

Seventeen Air Force officers stationed at Minot Air Force Base in N.D. had their ability to stand guard over the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missile fleet removed for 60 days after poor performance on a series of evaluations led an Air Force official to suggest that there was “rot” within the 91st Missile Wing, the Associated […]

If the Obama Administration is looking for cuts to the nation’s nuclear deterrence, it should look past the nation’s fleet of intercontinental ballistic missiles, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said yesterday. Suggesting that the nation’s ICBMs were the most economical leg of the nuclear triad, Tester said it would be a mistake to cut the size […]

Maintaining the nuclear triad for the next 20 years could cost more than $500 million, according to the Center for Nonproliferation Studies. The group released a fact sheet about U.S. nuclear weapons spending late last week in advance of a more detailed report on the topic that will be released this spring attempting to estimate […]

Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) offered up a pointed critique of potential reductions to the nation’s nuclear stockpile, suggesting yesterday that the nation’s current nuclear deterrent provides a “bargain” and that it should be maintained even as the government faces significant pressure to reduce spending. “Securing the nation is the most basic function of government and […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s W76 warhead life extension program could face cost overruns and schedule delays if agency officials can’t better control the per-unit cost of the refurbishment effort, the Department of Energy’s Inspector General said in a report released yesterday. The IG said that the NNSA’s own cost projections indicated that it would […]