Free Republic

WASHINGTON – The U.S. needs a new, modern arsenal of nuclear weapons to use as a deterrent to attacks from other nations for the remainder of the 21st century, the top military commander for strategic warfare said Tuesday. Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, head of the military's Strategic Command, said if the Pentagon develops an improved, more reliable nuclear weapon, the U.S. will be able to reduce the number of warheads it keeps on hand. “So long as there are other countries in the world that possess enough nuclear weapons to destroy the United States of America and our way...

The Reliable Replacement Warhead program is expected to result in a U.S. arsenal of heavier and slightly larger nuclear warheads, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday. “I don’t want to mislead you,” National Nuclear Security Administration chief Linton Brooks said last week. “I will personally be very surprised if we can get the advantages we want without redesigning the physics package.” The physics package refers to the components that actually cause a nuclear reaction, especially the plutonium pit, according to the Chronicle. The warheads “will require new pits. ... We are going to need to melt them down and recast...

U.S. Congress resists 'bunker buster' By Nicholas Kralev THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published May 10, 2005 The Bush administration faces strong opposition in Congress to funding for research to bolster the U.S. nuclear arsenal for the second year in a row, but it may receive a limited budget for one program, administration and congressional officials say.     The proposal that met most resistance from both Democrats and Republicans is the creation of a Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP), the "bunker buster" that would be able to break through rock.     "The Pentagon has been interested in improving our capabilities for several years, and...