A top Air Force official who oversees the U.S. nuclear bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile fleets yesterday blasted critics of the service’s plans to modernize the air- and land-based legs of the nuclear triad, while echoing previous official statements emphasizing the urgency of upgrades to an aging arsenal. “You could be against us spending money on a capability that we desperately need to protect America. Fine. Fine, you have that right. And maybe somebody gets through one of these days,” Maj. Gen. Garrett Harencak, Assistant Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration, told attendees of his Tuesday speech in Arlington, Va. “But then, I want you to stand up with me and say, ‘We won’t make that investment, but don’t worry, I will send my grandchild into combat with yours in an 80-year-old airplane.’”
Harencak expressed sentiments similar to those of Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh, who in separate speeches last week underscored the high priority the service has given for the long-range strike bomber (LRSB) to help replace an aging fleet of B-2’s and B-52’s. “There are a lot of hard decisions we have to make out there,” Harencak said. “This is not one of them.” While he lauded the deterrent capability of existing nuclear-armed aircraft to hold any target at risk, Harencak said the air-based leg of the triad is based on “old” bombers. “Our youngest bomber is a B-2 at Whiteman [Air Force Base] that’s old enough to rent a car because it’s approaching 26,” he said. Critics have asserted that the U.S. does not need the LRSB despite not knowing unpublished details of the restricted program, he said. “It’s already the usual suspects out there telling us that we don’t need this,” Harencak said. “They’re already out there – the usual suspects that have been against every modernization, every recapitalization out there. Don’t listen to them, ladies and gentlemen. Make sure that you help us out there, and get out there and talk about the real issues. The fact of the matter is we can afford this. It will be affordable.” The Air Force plans to produce 80 to 100 LRSB’s at a total cost of $80 billion, with the first plane slated to debut in the mid-2020s.