Raytheon AGM-129
Posted on 02/15/2010 8:22:57 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
In addition to violently roiling the Air Force for months, the infamous “Minot Incident” of August 2007 did something else. It highlighted a new view of the future of nuclear-armed cruise missiles.
That event saw B-52H bombers unwittingly fly operational Advanced Cruise Missiles from Minot AFB, N.D., down to Barksdale AFB, La. Mostly unremarked is that weapons were being taken south for decommissioning. The Defense Department is retiring the nuclear-armed AGM-129 ACM entirely. As a result of strategic nuclear arms treaty obligations, the Pentagon scrapped planned life extension programs for the ACM. DOD moved to eliminate the ACM entirely and dramatically cut back its inventory of earlier generation AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missiles.
The net result of these decisions was to greatly reduce the number and profile of nuclear cruise missiles in the US arsenal.
Recent developments could limit the Air Force’s cruise missile capability even further. Reductions in the ALCM fleet, reducing its numbers from 1,142 to 528, and complete elimination of the ACM inventory were critical to reaching even the 2002 Moscow Treaty limits of 2,200 operationally deployed nuclear warheads by 2012.
Nuclear weapons trends are likely to further constrain nuclear cruise missile inventories. The Obama Administration is pursuing an aggressive arms control agenda that portends further cuts in coming years, in both nuclear weapons and their delivery systems.
(Excerpt) Read more at airforce-magazine.com ...
Getting rid of (or reducing the numbers of) nukes is a good thing. Getting rid of conventional cruise missiles is a VERY BAD idea. I hope the Obama administration can understand this.
.....Bob
I agree!
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When a big scandal breaks it is great to have a few dozen of them around to launch at some other country for the purpose of distracting the public’s attention. It is a time proven tactic.
Absolutely, the acm has proven itself time after time as a useful weapon. OTOH, all the money we spent on nukes is just down the drain.
....Bob
That is my favorite cruise missile
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