In today’s multipolar proliferated environment, the United States needs to maintain and modernize its nuclear weapons arsenal and rejuvenate its industrial nuclear weapons complex. The United States is the only nuclear power without a substantial modernization program. Russia and China have been fielding new nuclear capabilities on a regular basis, and North Korea and Iran are emerging as regional nuclear powers with the potential to disrupt and threaten the interests of the U.S. and its allies. As the bipartisan Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States (the Schlesinger–Perry Commission) stated:
The triad of strategic delivery systems continues to have value. Each leg of the nuclear triad, comprised of heavy bombers, intercontinental-range ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), provides unique contributions to stability. As the overall force shrinks, their unique values become more prominent
President Barack Obama has expressed support for modernization of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, but the Administration now appears to be backing out of its commitment. But as usual, talk is cheap, but he has done nothing.
In 2010, General Kevin Chilton, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, stated regarding the U.S. stockpile arsenal:
I do not agree that it is more than is needed. I think the arsenal that we have is exactly what is needed today to provide the deterrent. And I say this in light of—when we talk about the non-deployed portion of the arsenal, it is sized to be able to allow us to hedge against both technical failures in the current deployed arsenal and any geopolitical concerns that might…cause us to need more weapons deployed.
General Chilton’s statement calls into question the rationale that the Obama Administration is now developing for further nuclear reductions and abandoning the nuclear triad. Yet as Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has stated, the United States is headed for a future without the nuclear triad if sequestration under the Budget Control Act of 2011 proceeds. The Bush Administration’s 2001 Nuclear Posture Review recognized the importance of other elements of the U.S. strategic posture, namely nuclear and nonnuclear offensive strike systems, active and passive defenses, and a revitalized defense infrastructure to provide new capabilities in a timely fashion to meet emerging threats.
The United States needs to increase investments in its nuclear weapons complex and reverse two decades of deterioration.
B53 Nuclear Bomb Dismantlement
The elimination of the B53 by Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is consistent with the goal President Obama announced in his April 2009 Prague speech to reduce the number of nuclear weapons. The President said, “We will reduce the role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy, and urge others to do the same.” The dismantlement of the last remaining B53 ensures that the system will never again be part of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.
As a key part of its national security mission, NNSA is actively responsible for safely dismantling weapons that are no longer needed, and disposing of the excess material and components.
