A member of the House subcommittee on strategic forces said Friday that the U.S. and allies must invest in its nuclear arms and missile defense to keep up with adversaries.
“Every nuclear state run by an authoritarian regime is heavily increasing its weapons and capabilities,” Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said in the opening sentence to his New York Times guest essay, “We must invest in our aging nuclear arsenal.”
Turner listed North Korea, China, Iran and Russia as examples of countries modernizing their nuclear systems at an accelerated rate, with China being the “most pressing” threat. President Joe Biden (D) reportedly approved a nuclear strategy in March that would prepare the United States for potential nuclear challenges from these countries, particularly China, by accounting for each country’s expanding nuclear arsenal.
“Absent a change in the trajectory of adversary arsenals, we may reach a point in the coming years where an increase from current deployed numbers is required,” Pranay Vaddi, special assistant to Mr. Biden and senior director for arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation and the National Security Council, said in June.
Turner made a similar argument in his letter to the editor, or guest essay, as the Times sometimes calls them.
“Our current nuclear arsenal is insufficient to face these fast-evolving threats,” Turner said, specifically referring to the Boeing Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles that he said were “aging rapidly” and “especially in need of attention.”
The Sentinel would replace the Minuteman III system and was designed to meet “current and future threats,” according to Turner, but the program faced roadblocks such as an 81% cost overrun and running behind schedule. Turner said that despite these roadblocks, adversaries could be “dangerously emboldened” if the ground-based leg of the deterrent is not fully funded and expedited.