Lt. Gen. James Kowalski, the head of the Air Force’s Global Strike Command, has suggested a note of caution to proponents of reducing the size of the nation’s nuclear stockpile, but he said yesterday in a breakfast meeting with reporters that he would be comfortable with small cuts to the arsenal. “Can you go below 1,550?” as the New START Treaty with Russia established in 2010, Kowalski said. “What I say is ‘Yeah, I think there is some headroom there.’ Whether you do it in parity with Russia I think depends on what kind of numbers you’re talking about.”
Kowalski, who declined to define exactly what kind of reductions he would support, emphasized that he would be cautious about moving toward massive cuts outlined in a Global Zero report last year that suggested the nation’s nuclear deterrent could be maintained with an overall stockpile of 900 nuclear weapons and the elimination of the ICBM leg of the nuclear triad. The Global Zero report has gained renewed significance because one of its authors, former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), has been nominated as the next Defense Secretary by President Obama. “When you start talking about those kinds of numbers, you’re talking about major structural changes to how we do this business,” Kowalski said. “I’m looking at it from the perspective of the person that is charged with organizing, training and equipping and making sure it’s safe, secure and effective. So can I get enough experienced personnel to fill out all the organizations that provide guidance, oversight, training, et cetera. Do we have enough work for the intellectual infrastructure that we have out at the laboratories and can we sustain the laboratories that we have because those are valuable not just for nuclear deterrence but they’re valuable to the nation across a number of different areas of science, and counter proliferation and counter-WMD.”
Kowalski also said there would be a concern about the viability of industry to support low numbers. “At what point do the highly experienced organizations do something else, and can you maintain the same level of quality, surety, certification, et cetera, et cetera, as you go out and try to replace components in aging weapons systems,” he said.
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