Report: Upgrading U.S. Nuclear Forces is ‘Not Affordable’ Under Sequestration

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http://news.usni.org/2015/08/05/report-upgrading-u-s-nuclear-forces-is-not-affordable-under-sequestration



Ohio-class guided missile submarine USS Michigan (SSGN-727) heads out to sea in 2012

Report: Upgrading U.S. Nuclear Forces is ‘Not Affordable’ Under Sequestration
By: John Grady
August 5, 2015 7:30 AM • Updated: August 4, 2015 9:58 PM

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments acknowledges in a new report that modernizing U.S. nuclear forces — with programs such as the Ohio-class replacement ballistic missile submarine — will compete for funds conventional weapons upgrades like the F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

Speaking Tuesday at the Washington, D.C., think-tank, Todd Harrison, one of the report’s authors, said, “We won’t be able to do all at the same time.” He added in the mid 2020s “The Joint Strike Fighter (all three variants) will be in full-rate production at the same time” and the Army, which now has no major modernization programs in the pipeline, likely will be looking at replacements for its fighting vehicles and tanks.

“We always have budget constraints” and it becomes a matter of setting priorities, he said.

Harrison said that spending on the nuclear forces would rise from 3 percent to 5 percent of the defense budget as the “bow wave” crests but then would fall back to current levels when adjusted for inflation. That translates to $40 billion in the peak years.