Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Wednesday introduced legislation that would limit funding for the Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) nuclear cruise missile, a controversial weapon intended to replace the aging air-launched cruise missile.
Democrats in Congress say the missile, expected to cost roughly $20 billion to $30 billion over 20 years for approximately 1,000 missiles, would increase the risk of nuclear war. “The cruise missile would be more precise and could be launched without warning, putting pressure on other nuclear-armed states to keep their arsenals on high alert,” a Markey press release said.
The LRSO will be carried on B-52, B-2, and B-21 aircraft, according to the Air Force, and will be designed to carry both conventional and nuclear warheads – something its opponents say increases the risk of miscalculation by U.S. adversaries if the missile is fired.
However, Gen. Robert Kehler, former commander of U.S. Strategic Command, said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday that the LRSO “allows us to take a standoff platform like the B-52 and keep it viable. And it takes a penetrating platform like the B-21 and makes it more lethal.”
The new legislation would limit funding for LRSO at 2017 levels until the new Trump administration submits to Congress a Nuclear Posture Review that determines nuclear policy for the upcoming years.
Specifically, the legislation says that the secretary of defense cannot spend over $95.6 million on development of the LRSO; and the secretary of energy cannot spend over $220.3 million on the W80-4 warhead life-extension program – the LRSO will carry this refurbished warhead – until Congress reviews the Nuclear Posture Review.
The review must address a number of questions regarding the LRSO, including the “anticipated effect of the long-range standoff weapon on strategic stability relative to other nuclear-armed countries,” the bill says.
“If the United States wants other countries to reduce their nuclear arsenals and restrain their nuclear war plans, we must take the lead,” Markey said in a statement. “Instead of wasting billions of dollars on this dangerous new nuclear weapon that will do nothing to keep our nation safe, we should preserve America’s resources and pursue a global ban on nuclear cruise missiles.”
Seven other Democratic senators, along with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), co-sponsored the legislation.
The Air Force continues to defend the weapon. Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday at a House Armed Services Committee hearing that he rejects the notion of the LRSO being destabilizing. “We do believe that it is a significant tool for imposing costs on our potential adversaries,” he said.
During the same hearing, Gen. Stephen Wilson, Air force vice chief of staff, called the LRSO the “most flexible leg” of the U.S. deterrent and a “very effective deterrent capability.”
