Should the US be concerned about the state of its nuclear arsenal?
A test of an unarmed Minuteman III at Vandenberg Air Force Base. (Photo: US Air Force)
“We are going to get spare parts out of museums,” warns a former commander of USSTRATCOM.
The Pentagon has been struggling to ensure the readiness of its nuclear capabilities, according to a former commander of US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). Long-lasting issues involving budget, bureaucracy, complexity of the systems and low levels of flexibility of an ageing arsenal have been playing a relevant role in putting the US in what Gen (ret.) C. Robert Kehler, former commander of USSTRATCOM, considers an alarming situation.
Designed and built in the Cold War era, Washington’s systems have been in service for more than five decades. Although they have passed through life extension, these platforms feature an old architecture that hampers efforts to
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