Even though the post-2021 budgetary landscape—as many nuclear modernization programs move from research & development to the production phase—will likely threaten investments in strategic deterrence, the U.S. should still follow plans to modernize the full nuclear weapon portfolio, a Senate appropriator told a Capitol Hill audience yesterday. “Will there be funding challenges after 2021, after we purchase and modernize bombers, missiles and submarines? Absolutely,” Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said during a Peter Huessy Breakfast Series event. “But as STRATCOM Commander Adm. Haney has said, ‘Even if nuclear modernization accounts to five or six percent of defense spending for a few years, it is an investment that we cannot afford not to make.’ The good news is that prudent investments today can help control future costs.” The Air Force has programmed an additional $5.6 billion across the Future Years’ Defense Program to fund its two legs of the nuclear triad, and the Navy has programmed $10 billion across the FYDP for its No. 1 priority, the Ohio-class Replacement ballistic missile submarine. Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics two weeks ago said the budget crunch on nuclear modernization gets “severe” starting in 2021, when Ohio-class Replacement development starts.
Hoeven said he disagreed with arms control advocates’ claims that cutting the bomber or ICBM leg of the triad would bring significant savings. He added that recent mishaps among missileers demonstrate that the triad should be a higher priority, and that the U.S. should signal its seriousness about deterrence to allies and global nuclear actors. “In the context of the overall defense budget, it is very, very cost-effective….We need to show our adversaries that even after cutting our nuclear forces and deemphasizing nuclear deterrence in our national security strategy, we are still very serious about deterrence and willing to invest in it,” Hoeven said. “Deploying big bombs on big missiles is important. Operating and maintaining those weapon systems so that we are always ready to respond to enemy threats is just as important.”
