Smaller Force, Smarter Strategy, Greater Savings

July 25, 2012 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke

Cartwright and Pickering on cuts - “The U.S. (and Russian) arsenal is thus over-stocked. Ample latitude exists for further nuclear cuts,” testified Gen. James Cartwright and Amb. Thomas Pickering at a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. They recommend steep reductions and offer an illustrative force of 900 total nuclear warheads.

--”A significant cost savings would accrue if our illustrative force structure is implemented,” they write. Eliminating the ICBM force, scaling back the bomber fleet, shifting to fewer submarines, and lowering demands on the nuclear complex would amount in an estimated total savings of roughly $120 billion over the next 15 years.

--Full written testimony here. (pdf) http://bit.ly/OCPZQd

Tweet - @LivableWorld: Cartwright & Pickering testimony: Total savings from reduced nuclear stockpile $120 billion over 15 years.

Not depressing - @K8brannen: Three senators (Feinstein, Alexander & Tester) show for hearing on how many nuclear weapons the US should maintain over the next 10-20 years.

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GBIs cost a lot - Each Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) costs about $90 million, even without factoring in the large costs of developing the interceptors, estimates George Lewis at Mostly Missile Defense. The total cost of the GBI program - $39.16 billion so far - is still rising. http://bit.ly/PIscmB

Tweet - @nukes_of_hazard: Feinstein announces nnsa now estimates cost of b61 lept to be 8 billion. Independent estimate puts it at 10 billion.

Sally Ride - Under Secretary of State Rose @Gottemoeller tweets: “People know Sally Ride was a barrier-breaking astronaut, but she was also a physicist. She worked on arms control issues.”

--”In early 90s, Sally Ride worked w/ JASONs to co-author a report on warhead dismantlement & fissile material control.” (pdf) http://1.usa.gov/OmLECu

Iran talks update - “Senior negotiators for Iran and the major world powers held a daylong review of the state of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear enrichment program Tuesday but gave no hint whether and when full-scale talks will resume,” reports McClatchy from Istanbul. http://hrld.us/Oiqwix

Romney foreign policy speech - Mitt Romney offered a foreign policy speech on the campaign trail yesterday. AP summarized the “central tenets of Romney’s plan.” On nuclear policy, Romney says he would put more pressure on Iran and increase military presence around the ME, review New START and keep Russia in check, and heap sanctions on North Korea. http://wapo.st/OZK6we

Defense hawk on nuke cuts - Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA) said last week, “we are in a position today where we must reduce the size of our nuclear weapons force." He argued that the U.S. can reduce its arsenal and use the defense funds elsewhere. Your humble EW editor writes about what this means for the defense budget debate at Huffington Post. http://huff.to/O4GLkR

Report - “Report on long-lead procurement plans for UPF; cites unresolved issues in safety design as possible hurdle” by Frank Munger at the Knoxville News Sentinel. http://bit.ly/O93LyU

4th Borei - “Russia is set before August to formally begin construction of its fourth Borei-class ballistic missile submarine,” reports Global Security Newswire. http://bit.ly/NXhwwX

Fired - “A civilian laborer purposely started a fire that caused $400 million in damage to a nuclear-powered submarine because he had anxiety and wanted to get out of work early, Navy investigators said Monday.” AP has the story of the 24-year old worker aboard the USS Miami, who faces up to life in prison and some hefty restitution payments if convicted. http://wapo.st/LO69Wj

Sorry ladies, he’s taken - Weeks of tense speculation are over. North Korea’s state-run media has identified the mystery woman who has been appearing with Kim Jong-Un as “Comrade Ri Sol-ju, wife of Marshal Kim Jong-un.”http://nyti.ms/M8Bx8a