This image taken with a slow shutter speed shows an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile test launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on Oct. 2, 2019. The Air Force and its allies are sharpening their arguments for why any delay or reversal in replacing the 400 Minuteman III missiles would weaken the U.S. nuclear deterrent. | Staff Sgt. J.T. Armstrong, U.S. Air Force
Progressive lawmakers and disarmament advocates are lobbying allies in the Biden administration for a pause in the program.
The battle lines are being drawn for what is expected to be the biggest clash over the Pentagon budget this year: whether to keep pursuing a new $100 billion replacement for the nuclear missiles now on standby across five western states.
The Air Force and its allies in Congress, think tanks and defense contractors are sharpening their arguments for why any delay or reversal in replacing the 400 Minuteman III missiles that were first deployed in 1970 would weaken the U.S. nuclear deterrent while Russia and China are updating or expanding their arsenals.
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WNU Editor: Many of the advocates who are calling for a freeze in the Air Force's nuclear modernization program are claiming that future nuclear arms control agreements with Russia and China may result in a decrease in the number of nuclear weapons deployed.
So why spend the money now?
I do not know where they are getting their information. China has bluntly said they have no interest in stopping the expansion of the nuclear arms program And I know the Kremlin has also voiced no interest in decreasing their nuclear missile stockpile after spending billons to modernize it.
