Military leaders question affordability of nuclear triad
Nov 02, 2011
Military Leaders Question the Affordability of Pentagon’s Plan to Modernize All Three Legs of the Nuclear Weapons Triad
The United States nuclear force is composed of three components that are described as synergistic:
-->On land, with intercontinental ballistic missiles
-->At sea, with nuclear-powered submarines
-->In the air, with long-range nuclear bombers
Each of the three legs has its advantages and disadvantages in terms of speed, cost, vulnerability to attack, whether the system can be recalled once launched and more.
All three legs of the triad are edging toward the end of their useful lives and at some point in the near-future, all three legs will need to be replaced – or eliminated.
It is estimated that the United States will spend $700 billion on nuclear weapons and related programs over the next decade, including spending on new nuclear submarines, bombers and land-based missiles as well as on new facilities to build new explosive cores for nuclear warheads.
Get A Leg Up/Give Up A Leg
Sep 23, 2011
Many years ago, during a debate on whether to build new bombers to carry nuclear weapons, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, former Representative Charlie Bennett of Florida, made a pointed declaration:
THE TRIAD IS NOT THE TRINITY!
By that wise pronouncement, Bennett was saying that the Pentagon’s nuclear weapons policy adopted early in the Cold War to spread the United States’ nuclear force among three legs or components was not the gospel, but rather a policy that no longer served its purpose.
The United States nuclear force is composed of three components that are described as synergistic:
--> On land, with intercontinental ballistic missiles--> At sea, with nuclear-powered submarines
--> In the air, with long-range nuclear bombers