Navy Grappling With Unaffordable Submarine Program

January 9, 2015 | Edited by Jacob Marx and Will Saetren

Show me the money - “Congress has created a special fund to help the Navy build its next generation nuclear submarine fleet while rebuilding back to a 300-ship fleet, but Navy and Pentagon officials are now trying to find the dollars to supply that special funding line,” writes Kris Osborn in Business Insider.

--The National Sea-Based Deterrence fund is designed for the Navy to build the Ohio-Class Replacement without gutting conventional forces. The problem is, nobody knows where they are going to get the money. Full story here. http://read.bi/1x3Q19y

Tweet - @Mmarcburleigh: Kerry meeting Zarif in Geneva on Jan 14 to continue negotiations on elusive nuke deal, #Iran negotiator says. #AFP

Geneva bound - “Acting Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman, who has led the US delegation for more than two years, will head the team of senior officials and advisers to the next round of bilateral negotiations” in Geneva from January 15th to the 17th reports AFP. Full story here. http://bit.ly/1BImb0T

Iran talks 101 - With negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program about to resume and the new Congress back in town, here are the five things everyone needs to know about the upcoming talks. “The interim nuclear deal is working...new sanctions would violate the interim nuclear deal...inspections and verification are the keys to a good deal...Iran is battling ISIS...and failure would have devastating consequences.” Ryan Costello explains in The Hill. Full column here. http://bit.ly/1BUDFFu

Under the sea - Commercial satellite imagery “of a North Korean submarine, taken less than a month ago, [that] indicates the vessel may have one or two vertical launching tubes for either ballistic or cruise missiles,” reports The New York Times. “The submarine, first seen in July, could be a test bed for underwater missile launching, which would be harder to detect than land-based launchers.” Read the full story here. http://nyti.ms/1yK4iiw

Cans on the curb - “Idaho plans to fine the federal government $3,600 a day for missing a deadline to remove 900,000 gallons of liquid nuclear waste from tanks at a southeast Idaho nuclear facility, state officials said.” Full report via the Associated Press. http://nyti.ms/149DWsC

The brink - “The prospect of nuclear Armageddon gets a darkly comic treatment in HBO's The Brink, which premieres this summer.” As Bill Keveney reports for USA Today, “In the 10-episode season, World War III becomes a possibility after a rogue general seizes control of Pakistan and its nuclear weapons.” The show will draw inspiration from such dark comedies as Dr. Strangelove and M*A*S*H. Full story here. http://usat.ly/1FzpcEQ

If talks fail - As the U.S. and Iran work toward a nuclear deal, both carry implicit threats on what they could do if talks implode. “Iran could target U.S. forces if rapprochement collapses. U.S. attacks against the Assad regime in Syria could trigger Iranian reprisals; so could new U.S. economic sanctions. The United States is vulnerable, but so is Iran. That’s the symmetry of this negotiation,” writes David Ignatius in The Washington Post. Full column here. http://wapo.st/1IwZVaB

Tweet - @BulletinAtomic: Funding allocated for new Manhattan Project national park: $0. For nuclear weapons enterprise: $1 trillion: http://ow.ly/H0jJs

HEU removed from Kazakhstan - NNSA “announced the removal of 36 kilograms of highly enriched uranium spent fuel from the Institute of Nuclear Physics (INP) in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The HEU was transported via two air shipments to a secure facility in Russia for permanent disposition. This complex operation was the culmination of a multi-year effort between the United States, Kazakhstan, Russia and the IAEA.” Press release here. http://1.usa.gov/1BIxp5y

We’ve been down this road - “With all of the problems in this country, why should we care about nuclear negotiations with Iran?” As Gayle Rose writes in the Memphis Commercial Appeal, “because the alternative is undoubtedly full-scale military action similar to what we experienced in Iraq.” Full column here. http://huff.to/1xZaSyF

Quick Hits:

--“Counting Nuclear Warheads in the Public Interest,” by Robert Norris and Hans Kristensen for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. http://bit.ly/1w5wcOV

--“Size of U.S. Nuclear Arsenal Remains Classified” by Steven Aftergood for the Federation of American Scientists. http://bit.ly/1DG4GNZ

--“Navy submariners in video recording scandal face 'significant' penalties,” by Michael Melia for the Associated Press. http://1.usa.gov/1BInsF4

Events:

--“The Endgame: Success or Failure in Iran Nuclear Talks?" Featuring Ambassador Bill Luers, Paul Pillar, and Robin Wright of The Iran Project. January 14 from 4:30p.m.-6:00p.m. Located at Georgetown University’s Mortara Center for International Studies, 3600 N St. NW, Washington. RSVP online.

--“Strategic Deterrence in the Twenty-First Century." Featuring Adm. Cecil Haney, Commander, U.S. Strategic Forces. January 15 at 9:30 a.m.. Located at the Atlantic Council, 12th Floor, 1030 15th St. NW, Washington. RSVP online.

--“Strategic Deterrence in 2015 and Beyond," featuring Maj. Gen. Garrett Harencak, Air Force Assistant Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration. January 20, 7:00-9:00 a.m. Sponsored by the Air Force Association. Key Bridge Marriot, 1401 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA. RSVP online.

--"Australia and the Bomb." Featuring Christine Leah, Yale University; Christian Ostermann, Wilson Center; and Elbridge Colby, Center for a New American Security. Jan. 28, 2:00-3:30 p.m., Wilson Center, Sixth Floor, Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington. RSVP online. http://bit.ly/1tGp8bD

Dessert:

Bombing run? - Flyovers by military aircraft at sporting events have become an American tradition. It’s meant to evoke pride and patriotism, but in the case of a B-2 Stealth Bomber that flew over over the 2015 Rose Bowl, it looked more like a “bat-winged super bomber making an attack run on Pasadena.” Tyler Rogoway has the story for Foxtrot Alpha. http://bit.ly/1zZSALU

Tweet - When you watch a nuclear test shot, you also get a fancy certificate - complete with cartoons and comic typefaces. @AtomicTourism tweeted out this image, from the Operation Nougat Shot in January 1962. http://bit.ly/1wCoNIa