National Defense Panel to Deliver Assessment on 2014 QDR to HASC

The National Defense Panel, co-chaired by Dr. William Perry and Gen. John Abizaid, at 10 a.m. today will deliver its verbal assessment of the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review released in July to the House Armed Services Committee. The panel’s written assessment, released July 31, asserts that modernization of nuclear forces – namely long-range strike capabilities and the Ohio-class replacement – is essential. The assessment states that the merits of some planned “expensive” recapitalizations “can be debated,” and notes that modernization of the nuclear triad could cost between $600 billion and $1 trillion over the next 30 years, drawing would-be funding away from conventional capabilities.

 

The assessment calls for reasonable decisions to be made for the future of nuclear forces, underscoring the “broad-based political support” the deterrent requires if it is to remain credible. “Such support is critical to ensuring that the U.S. nuclear arsenal is freed from the malign combination of neglect and political whiplash it has endured since the end of the Cold War in favor of a predictable and consistent funding and authorizing horizon,” the assessment reads. “Given the existential importance of the nuclear deterrent, we recommend that the Administration and Congress urgently and jointly undertake a new study to examine the intellectual underpinnings of our strategic deterrence policy.”