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Nuclear Triad Modernization
The Nation's Highest Priority
by David Vergun, DOD News
May 8, 2021
The nuclear triad, composed of Intercontinental Ballistic
Missiles, submarines and strategic bombers, has been a credible
deterrent to a "bolt out of the blue" attack, said the commander of
the U.S. Strategic Command, referring to an all-out nuclear attack
on the United States.
Navy Adm. Charles Richard briefed the
media at the Pentagon on April 22, 2021.
"I do want to report that
Stratcom remains ready to accomplish all of our assigned missions.
That has not been easy, given the COVID environment and other
things, but we're fully mission capable," he said.
While
strategic deterrence is incredibly important, Richard said it's also
important to look at the totality of an appropriate response to any
given threat, to include conventional deterrence in all domains.
Richard then took questions from
the press, one of which was about the reliability of the ICBM leg of
the triad.
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U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Dustin Primo, right, 341st Missile Maintenance Squadron missile handling team chief and Senior Airman Dylan Funkhouser, missile handling technician, securely place a cover on the front of the booster of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile April 20, 2021, at the missile handling facility on Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont. The cover is placed after half of the missile has rolled from one transporter erector to the other. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Elijah Van Zandt)
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The Minuteman III system is
fully reliable today in terms of system performance and its ability
to meet the threat, according to the Air Force, which is responsible
for maintaining it, he said.
However, the system is old and
it's getting increasingly harder to maintain it, he noted. "I want
us to recognize that you can't indefinitely life-extend anything.
You can't take stuff that you got back at the end of the Cold War,
and to think somehow, forever, you can continue to make it work.
There's a point where it becomes not cost effective to do that. And,
there's another point out there where it's not possible at all.
"And, I want to make
sure that we think through these decisions and recognize that those
points exist and look for them," he added.
The Minuteman III
replacement is the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, which is a
newer model of ICBMs in the early stages of development. Richard
said that the GBSD is slated to replace the Minuteman III beginning
in 2029, when initial operating capability is expected.
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A B-52H Stratofortress bomber from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., parks on the runway at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, in support of a U.S. Strategic Command Bomber Task Force, April 17, 2021. (Air Force
photo by Senior Airman Jovante Johnson)
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Richard also said he
applauded the decision to stand up the U.S. Space Command. "I think
it has been a great benefit to my mission sets."
Spacecom
will provide Stratcom with reliable missile warning, missile defense
and space situational awareness, using its sensor suite of
capabilities, he noted.
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