Aging ICBMs Must Be Replaced, Not Refurbished, STRATCOM Chief Says
Even the people who once knew how to fix them are “not alive anymore,” Richard says.
Amid reports that the Biden administration may scale back a planned 30-year, $1.2 trillion nuclear-modernization plan, the leader of U.S. Strategic Command wants everyone to know: America’s 400 ICBMs are so old that fixing them would cost more than the current effort to replace them.
“Let me be very clear: you can not life-extend Minuteman III, right? It is getting past the point where it is cost-effective to life-extend Minuteman III. We’re getting to the point where you can’t do it at all,” Adm. Charles Richard, the head of U.S. Strategic Command or STRATCOM, told reporters Tuesday.
Minuteman III Missiles Are Too Old to Upgrade Anymore, STRATCOM Chief Says
An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test at 1:13 a.m. Pacific Time Oct. 2, 2019, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman a $13.3 billion contract to engineer and manufacture its next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. J.T. Armstrong)
6 Jan 2021
The aging Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles that have formed the land-based leg of the nation s nuclear deterrent triad for half a century can no longer be upgraded and require costly replacements, Adm. Charles Richard, head of U.S. Strategic Command, said Tuesday.
US Strategic Command chief defends ICBM replacement program January 6 An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test on Oct. 29, 2020, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. (U.S. Air Force) WASHINGTON The U.S. Defense Department must be allowed to press forward with replacing its Cold War-era Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, the head of U.S. Strategic Command said Tuesday. “You cannot life-extend Minuteman III,” said Adm. Charles Richard, who spoke with reporters during a Defense Writers Group event. “It is getting past the point of [where] it’s not cost-effective to life-extend Minuteman III. You’re quickly getting to the point [where] you can’t do it at all.”
The new year is poised to bring plenty of new defense challenges for the incoming Biden administration.There will be longtime challenges that could take on a new dimension, such as confronting a rising China. Others will be born of a change in administrations, such as the possibility of a fight over the makeup of the U.S nuclear arsenal.And of course there's always the possibility of something unexpected cropping up. Few would have predicted.
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