Alissa Tabirian
NS&D Monitor
6/26/2015
The United States must ramp up spending on defense and nuclear weapons modernization to maintain technological superiority and counter increases in Russia’s defense budget and modernization efforts, according to Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC). “They continue to crank out new nuclear warheads and maintain an advantage on tactical warheads about ten times what we do,” Thornberry said in his “Strategy for America” address at the Atlantic Council this week.
Thornberry Addresses Russian Nuke Modernization
Thornberry noted that while U.S. defense spending has been cut by 21 percent over the last four years, Russia’s defense spending is increasing by approximately 10 percent and includes modernization of intercontinental ballistic missiles and long-range cruise missiles. Russia’s military also “openly discusses doctrinal changes which show a broadened use of the circumstances under which they’d use nuclear weapons,” he added. Accusing the Obama Administration of politicizing defense funding in the meantime, Thornberry voiced concerns about the fate of replacements for costly systems such as Ohio-class submarines. Thornberry’s sentiments are reflected in the congressional push to enhance the transfer authority for the Sea-Based Deterrence Fund. The House version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 would authorize up to $1.39 billion to be moved into the fund from Navy research and development accounts. Thornberry has been vocal about the need for a separate account to fund Ohio class replacements, arguing that without it, “you end up with no money left to fund any other ship in the Navy.” Opponents to this push, including Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), argue that a separate account would potentially draw funds away from other military services.
Now, while U.S. nuclear weapons and delivery systems “are all aging out at about the same time,” personnel that built them are retiring and “we’ve let the infrastructure deteriorate,” Thornberry said. Nuclear engineers no longer consider national laboratories “desirable” places to work, “partly because they had to shoot rats off their lunch in some of the facilities that they were working in,” he said. Thornberry called for “a national conversation about building new weapons” to address the challenge of “asking labs to do the impossible, which is to keep complex machines running at peak condition forever.” He added that an “education campaign” is currently under way in Congress to highlight the importance of maintaining the U.S. nuclear deterrent, particularly because “we have taken for granted the systems, the infrastructure, and the people that keep those complex machines safe, reliable and effective.”
DOD, Congress and NATO Turn Toward Russia
Thornberry’s criticism of Obama’s threat to veto the NDAA coincided with Secretary of Defense Ash Carter’s trip to Europe, where the Secretary has called on NATO allies to increase their contributions to the defense fund. Despite these discussions for greater funding, Thornberry argued, Obama is “holding hostage” the funding request that was “his own.” Meanwhile, Carter spoke in Germany this week about Russia’s military modernization, condemning the country’s “nuclear sabre rattling” while pledging further cooperation on common areas of interest, particularly nonproliferation. Carter emphasized collaborative NATO funding, saying, “the United States cannot, should not, and will not meet these challenges in Europe alone.” In a press conference that took place before the Defence Ministers meeting, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reiterated that NATO is not interested in an arms race, but rather “a more cooperative and constructive relationship with Russia.” Stoltenberg added that nuclear concerns have led NATO to “increase readiness of our forces” and ramp up military presence in Eastern Europe. After the meeting, he said that the NATO Response Force will be significantly increased to “consist of up to 40,000 personnel” and that the allies plan for “rapid decision-making” as they “carefully [assess] the implications of what Russia is doing, including its nuclear activities.”
Meanwhile, congressional condemnation of Russia’s nuclear maneuvers resurfaced during a HASC hearing on nuclear deterrence yesterday. Thornberry reiterated the threat posed by Russia’s violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, categorizing it as one of several “belligerent activities.” Adm. James Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during the hearing that “any reductions in weapons must be done in concert with our potential antagonists, because unilateral gestures of goodwill have little standing with authoritarian regimes.” The challenge, according to Robert Work, deputy secretary of defense, is that “we have been trying to de-emphasize the role of nuclear weapons in our national strategy, whereas Russia has been trying to emphasize them.” Citing the ongoing debate surrounding funding deficiencies for U.S. nuclear forces, Winnefeld later added that “any remaining margin we have for investing in our nuclear deterrent has been steadily whittled away as we push investments further and further into the future.”
