Defense/ How much of the aging U.S. nuclear arsenal needs to be rebuilt
If Ashton Carter is
confirmed next month as
defense secretary, as appears likely, he will face a dilemma: the Pentagon’s
trillion-dollar plans to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal are excessive and unaffordable. As the Air Force and Navy admit, their nuclear
shopping lists outstrip their budgets.
This gives Carter an historic opportunity to bring the
nuclear weapons budget in line with U.S. security needs. There are real advantages to scaling back the nuclear enterprise.
Carter will presumably want to start new projects and expand others, such as
cybersecurity (think Sony hack and North Korea) and anti-terrorism (Paris
terror attacks), and he will have to find the money from within his
own budget.
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