Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton suggested she would cancel the Long Range Stand-Off (LRSO) nuclear cruise missile program if elected, according to leaked audio obtained by The Washington Free Beacon from a private campaign event held in Virginia in February.
The Free Beacon reported Tuesday that the audio was obtained by hackers who breached a Clinton staffer’s email account. In the recording, a man identifying himself as Andy Weber, formerly the assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical, and biological defense programs, asks Clinton if she would cancel the LRSO program if President Barack Obama does not during his remaining time in office.
“I certainly would be inclined to do that,” Clinton responds, adding that “the last thing we need are sophisticated cruise missiles that are nuclear-armed.”
The LRSO is intended to replace the aging air-launched cruise missile and will be carried on B-52, B-2, and B-21 aircraft, according to the Air Force. The program is set to spend $20 billion to $30 billion for approximately 1,000 missiles, which will carry both conventional and nuclear warheads. Congressional opponents of the program have said the missile is too costly and could spark miscalculation by U.S. adversaries, while the Air Force continues to defend the program.
Clinton also said on the recording that the nation’s nuclear modernization program would be a major issue to consider in a new presidential term. “Do we have to do any of it? If we have to do some of it, how much do we have to do? That’s going to be a tough question,” she says.
Officials have estimated that modernizing the U.S. nuclear deterrent, which involves upgrades to all three legs of the nuclear triad, will cost roughly $1 trillion over 30 years.
