Sentinel setbacks expose aged and decrepit US nukes

Asia Times ^

[FarCenter]

The LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program faces significant overruns and delays, casting an unwelcome spotlight on America’s aging US nuclear arsenal and contrasting sharply with the rapid modernization efforts of near-peer adversaries China and Russia.

The National Interest (TNI) reported this month that the LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM, developed in tandem by the US Air Force and defense contractor Northrop Grumman, is expected to cost 37% more than originally budgeted and take at least two years longer to reach initial operational capability than previously projected.

TNI notes that the Sentinel’s delay will require the US Air Force to extend the life of some of its Minuteman ICBMs, which were activated in the 1970s and comprise one of the three major components of the US nuclear triad.

Replacement of the ground-based US nuclear arsenal anchored by the Minuteman III has officially exceeded its US$95.8 billion budget, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and inflation. TNI notes that the cost overrun owes to the modernization of 450 missile silos and their command infrastructure, which includes 12,070 kilometers of new cables.

The US Department of Defense (DOD) has no choice but to push the program through, with costs potentially rising to over $125 billion. TNI reports the US Air Force expects a new cost and schedule for the LGM-35A Sentinel by summer 2024 if the program is allowed to continue.

The LGM-35A Sentinel is envisioned to replace LGM-30G Minuteman IIIs by 2029 and remain in service until the 2070s.

...

While the US must produce 80 plutonium pits by 2026 to modernize its nuclear arsenal on a one-to-one basis, current US plutonium pit production capacity means that it won’t have 80 pits annually until 2030 and possibly not until 2040.

[BobL]

Take that, Putin!!!! We don’t need no nukes, or capable air defenses because WE ARE AMERICA, and therefore WE ARE INVINCIBLE.

(pretty much the Neocon position, even after getting badley spanked in Ukraine)

[ClearCase_guy]

We are a shell of our former selves. And more money isn’t the fix we need.

[canuck_conservative]

Wow, you’re posting yet another anti-America Asia Times article

I’m shocked, shocked I tell ya!!

[ansel12]

Under Trump, the nuclear weapons industry has boomed
https://publicintegrity.org/national-security/future-of-warfare/under-trump-the-nuclear-weapons-industry-has-boomed/

Trump says US is ending decades-old nuclear arms treaty with Russia
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/20/politics/donald-trump-us-arms-agreement-russia/index.html

Trump’s new nuclear weapon has been deployed
https://www.defensenews.com/smr/nuclear-arsenal/2020/02/04/trumps-new-nuclear-weapon-has-been-deployed/

Trump says he would send nuclear submarines to go ‘up and down’ Russia’s coast to pressure Putin
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-send-nuclear-submarines-to-russias-coast-to-pressure-putin-2022-3

[rellic]

“We are a shell of our former selves. And more money isn’t the fix we need.”

Probably the most insightful comment on National defense I’ve seen in many years here.

[FarCenter]

Maybe Canada can help out by starting up plutonium production and fuel rod reprocessing.

“According to figures from NATO, the budget for the Canadian military in 2023 is $36.7 billion or 1.29 per cent of GDP.”

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/gdp-nato-military-spending-canada-1.6912028

[sauropod]

bkmk

[sarge83]

As Admiral King stated when they get in trouble they send in the SOB’s. We are reaching that point with the US military. The SOB’s will be the ones to rip out three decades of DEI BS and there will be such a great howl from the fascist left.