Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, said Tuesday he is “reviewing” the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, underscoring the Defense Department’s focus on addressing Russia’s violation of the 1987 accord.
U.S. officials in February said Russia has deployed a ground-launched nuclear-capable cruise missile with two battalions in breach of the treaty, which bans ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. The administration said it is planning potential responses.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Tuesday during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that the development “calls into question basic assumptions about U.S. nuclear policy – assumptions we must be prepared to re-evaluate given the new realities of our strategic environment.”
Hyten said the Russian action “is a concern to us because we have not seen that for quite some time.” The Pentagon’s upcoming Nuclear Posture Review, which is expected to be completed in six months, will consider military response options to the violation. The administration’s priorities for this review, Hyten said, will be based on an assessment of the threat scenarios from Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran.
“A single ground-launched cruise missile is not a significant threat to the United States or our allies. It shows the beginning of a deployment of a structure that could be a threat in the future,” Hyten said. However, if deployed in a significant number, such a cruise missile would threaten most of Europe, he said: “We have no defense for it, especially in defense of our European allies.”
Former U.S. officials recently cautioned against such potential responses as the United States’ development of its own ground-launched cruise missile and its unilateral withdrawal from the INF Treaty. Meanwhile, the Russians argue that the United States has itself breached the treaty, pointing to U.S. target missile tests for global missile defense and its production of armed drones as violations.
“I am reviewing the INF agreement,” Hyten said, indicating the U.S. might take a different approach toward the treaty than the previous administration. He noted, however, that he has not been directed to review or consider changing the U.S. approach toward the U.S.-Russian New START treaty.
The treaty requires the two nations by next February to deploy no more than 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads on 700 long-range delivery systems. Hyten spoke in support of the New START limits and said the agreement gives each country a helpful understanding of the other’s capabilities. “We get huge value from a bilateral, verifiable treaty that allows us to see exactly what our adversaries are doing from a strategic weapons perspective,” Hyten said.
The Nuclear Modernization Budget
Hyten during the hearing also warned of Defense Department budget and schedule constraints. “Any recapitalization program delays will further diminish these capabilities and affect our ability to execute our mission,” he said of the program to update each leg of the nuclear triad.
The general said another continuing resolution for the current fiscal 2017 past the April 28 expiration of the current short-term spending allowance would make it difficult to start new programs and would ultimately become a “very significant issue in terms of cost to the taxpayers as well as risks to national security.”
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) said in a separate hearing Wednesday that he would oppose a defense continuing resolution for the rest of fiscal 2017, because “it would simply do too much harm.” The budget year ends on Sept. 30.
Hyten said Tuesday he is satisfied with the pace of development for the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine, which will replace the U.S. Navy’s current fleet of Ohio-class boats starting in 2031. Service officials have warned that the program has no room for delays in construction in order to maintain the sea-based leg of the nuclear triad.
“This is a program with zero margin, and so we need every dollar of that for the year to keep that on track,” Adm. John Richardson, the U.S. Navy’s chief of naval operations, said Wednesday on Capitol Hill, commenting on the fiscal 2017 defense appropriations bill that provides over $773 million for the program. The Columbia-class program is considered immune to budget battles on the Hill as the current continuing resolution nears its expiration.
Hyten also addressed the Air Force’s B-21 program, the Long-Range Strike Bomber, which the service awarded in late 2015 to contractor Northrop Grumman. Air Force Global Strike Command chief Gen. Robin Rand has said he wants to acquire a minimum of 100 of the next-generation bombers, while former Air Force chief of staff Gen. Mark Welsh offered a range of 80-100 B-21s as the procurement target.
Hyten said that “from the top level I think 100 is sufficient, from an operational perspective, not a budget perspective.”
“I have a certain requirement in the New START for a certain number of nuclear-capable bombers, and then we have an additional capacity on the conventional side and when you put that together you come to about 100,” he said, noting that he will need to see program details from the Air Force before offering a more conclusive statement.
The UAV Threat
Hyten also said he recently issued guidance to the Defense Department on protecting nuclear weapons sites against unmanned aerial systems. The guidance is meant to enable military forces at sensitive locations such as nuclear weapon storage facilities to respond to lethal or surveillance UAVs – so they don’t “have to worry about ‘what should I be doing when I see that,’” Hyten said.
STRATCOM spokesman Capt. Brian Maguire said by email that the guidance applies only to STRATCOM facilities, assets, and personnel. He said the document offers “very specific, but classified guidance” on how to counter such systems.
“The guidance is effective upon receipt and it will remain in effect until superseded or cancelled. We will continue to update legal guidance, policy frameworks, and rules for the use of force as necessary to defend against these and any future threat(s),” Maguire said.
Unmanned aerial systems have captured the attention of military officials because they may be used to surveil or attack sensitive facilities, or even serve as delivery systems for conventional or nuclear explosives. Rand said last September that he is concerned about the presence of such systems “over some of the areas we don’t particularly like them being around.”
The Energy Department has also discussed with the Federal Aviation Administration options to regulate or restrict drone flights over its own sensitive facilities, in particular the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. Last year, SRS employees reported numerous drone sightings over key areas such as the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility under construction at the site. However, instituting airspace restrictions over these sites could take up to several years.
