Air-Launched Cruise Missile

Nuclear Posture Review: The More Things Change…

The Trump Administration’s review of nuclear policy and weapons was leaked half a month before its official rollout, giving advocacy groups, allies and everyone else who cares about nuclear warfare much time to craft their reactions. (Everyone should care about the issues, no matter how scary this topic is). Rebecca Hersman, deputy assistant Defense secretary for […]

Air Warfare

Trump Policy Nominee Boosts Nukes, Slams Russia

CAPITOL HILL: President Trump’s pick for the No. 2 policy job in the Pentagon, David Trachtenberg, endorsed new nuclear delivery systems, praised NATO and allies in general and took a hard line towards the Kremlin in his confirmation hearing today. Responding to senators’ questions, Trachtenberg said Russia should pay “a cost” for meddling in the 2016 […]

Air Warfare

Feinstein Presses Mattis On LRSO; Mattis Still Thinking

WASHINGTON: One of the most controversial new weapons in the US arsenal, the Long Range Standoff cruise missile (LRSO), meant to replace the Air Launched Cruise Missile, came under direct fire by a top Senate defense and intelligence lawmaker, Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The senior California senator holds seats both on the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee […]

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Air Warfare

New Cruise Missile Crucial To Nuclear Deterrence

Critics of US nuclear modernization claim the Long-Range Stand-Off (LRSO) weapon — an aircraft-launched nuclear cruise missile — can be eliminated without harming America’s security interests. But the LRSO provides America with a unique capability to deter adversaries from using nuclear force and projects credible power while keeping US forces safe. Updated standoff weapons ensure […]

Air Warfare

NORTHCOM: Defending North America At Ten And Two O’clock

  In less than three years, Northern Command has witnessed an important strategic shift. North Korea’s leadership changed and the acceleration of their nuclear weapons and missiles program are changing the strategic calculus for the United States and Canada. Meanwhile, the re-launch of Russia under President Putin has Russia’s presence felt in the Middle East, Asia […]

Air Warfare

Beef Up Conventional Forces; Don’t Worry About A Tactical Nuke Gap

At the end of this week, thousands of experts in one of humanity’s most terrible possibilities — nuclear war — will meet here in Washington to discuss how to avoid what they have spent their careers planning to do, in hopes they never will. Michael Krepon, one of America’s most experienced practitioners of the arcane art of […]

Air Warfare

Why Bombers Are Key to Nuke Modernization; Think Russia, North Korea, China

  Opponents of nuclear modernization worry that the presidential elections this year could end their hopes of killing a number of nuclear modernization programs—such as the Long Range Stand-Off cruise missile (LRSO) and the B-61 Mod 12 life extension program. Unfortunately for nuclear minimalists and abolitionists, President Obama has been true to his word and continued to support nuclear […]

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Air Warfare

The Nuclear Option: Long Range Strike & The Case For Dual-Use

By Blake McMahon Tuesday, Northrop Grumman won the contract to develop the Air Force’s next strategic bomber. Specifics about the competing designs have remained a closely-guarded secret, and the exact capabilities of the new aircraft are likely to remain classified for some time. One fact that is already known about the new bomber, however, is that, […]

Air Warfare

Nukes Or Conventional Weapons? Buy The Ones We Use

As the House and Senate gear up for votes in the coming days to fund the Defense Department, lawmakers are set to support a bow wave of costly nuclear weapons programs increasingly at odds with the needs of U.S. troops and the future threats that dominate their agenda. Notably for a president who famously championed […]

Congress

DoD, DoE Together Can’t Afford Ohio Replacement Sub: Kendall

CAPITOL HILL: The Navy’s already acknowledged that building the next nuclear missile submarine will bust its shipbuilding budget. Now, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer has admitted that the Ohio Replacement Program could be a bill too far for the entire nuclear weapons enterprise across the Departments of Defense and Energy — even if Congress repeals […]

Air Warfare

Want Stability? Fund Nuke Triad Modernization

Nuclear modernization will receive at least $1.2 billion more this year than last year’s $23.5 billion if the president’s Defense Department budget request is approved. Modernization funding for nuclear weapons and their delivery systems comprise 4 percent of the defense budget and 0.6 percent of the Federal budget. These include : the Ohio-class submarine replacement program (ORP); […]