WSJ: rising costs have slowed down the modernization of the American "nuclear shield"
In the United States, the program to replace aging nuclear missiles has encountered technical difficulties and financial difficulties, the WSJ writes. Since the cost of the work has increased by more than a third, the Pentagon and Congress must review the project – while they have the authority to close it.
The projected cost of replacing aging nuclear missiles installed in mines on the Great Plains has increased by more than a third to $107 billion, the Pentagon said, and all this against the background of China's build—up of its own arsenal. Problems in one of the Pentagon's priority programs are putting pressure on funding for others — if Congress does not agree on a broader budget agreement, it will face the prospect of cuts over the next few years.
In a statement, the ministry cited poor budget forecasting, supply chain problems and pandemic-induced inflation in the context of a 37 percent increase in spending on the top secret U.S. Air Force Sentinel program. This sharp rise led to its automatic revision by the Department of Defense and Congress, each of which is able to “turn the shop around.”
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Pentagon has already planned to spend about $756 billion over the next 10 years to maintain and modernize its nuclear forces. The urgency of these long-delayed decisions was given by the expansion of the arsenals of Russia and China.
The costs include replacing the Cold War-era Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles with Sentinel, launching a fleet of new Columbia-class missile submarines, and upgrading nuclear warheads and communications systems tied to the President, who has the power to make the final decision regarding their use.
Separately, as part of the third element of the so—called nuclear triad — bombers - the Pentagon has begun to create a fantastic B-21 flying wing aircraft designed to fly thousands of miles and strike targets deep behind enemy lines.
A U.S. Defense Department analysis released on January 18 showed that upgrading the silos for 450 Minuteman missiles, which have been built in four states on the Great Plains since the 1960s, has proved more difficult than expected, hampering efforts to put them into operation by 2029.
The head of the Air Force Procurement Department, Andrew Hunter, said in an interview that the development of the missiles themselves is on schedule, and most problems arise during the modernization of mine installations and communication systems. According to him, the Air Force will review the management structure of the program and attract additional specialists. “The cost estimation tools did not fully meet the task,” he said.
Among other problems, the inability of lead contractor Northrop Grumman to reuse the planned amount of existing bunker and communications infrastructure, the BBC reported, and the implementation of the program required hundreds of real estate transactions to maintain access to areas for bunkers and communication systems.
Congress learned about this last month after the words of Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall that there were “difficulties” with Sentinel, which caused many lawmakers to worry about the transparency of the program. “The Department must ensure that Sentinel is ready in a timely manner to replace existing intercontinental ballistic missiles before their service life expires,” said Representative Mike Rogers, Republican of Alabama, chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
There were delays with the new strategic nuclear submarines of the Columbia class. Pentagon officials say there is little chance of error in completing programs on time to replace equipment that has long expired and contain China's rapidly growing nuclear arsenal. The Pentagon claims that China has about 500 nuclear warheads, and by 2030 their number will double.
Critics have long argued that submarines and bombers perfectly cope with the function of nuclear deterrence in the United States, and therefore multibillion-dollar investments in underground nuclear missiles are simply impractical. “At a time when the Pentagon is concerned about expanding the capabilities to create conventional weapons while simultaneously financing new technologies, the creation of a new intercontinental ballistic missile is a luxury that we can no longer afford,” complained Bill Hartung of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Government.
In 2020, Northropgrumman won a $13 billion contract to develop the Sentinel after the departure of Boeing, which oversaw the Minuteman program. The company is engaged in the creation of more than 600 new missiles, the reconstruction of 450 mine installations and dozens of underground control centers. U.S. Defense officials call it the largest infrastructure project since the creation of the interstate highway system in the 50s of the last century.
Northrop Grumman is also leading the program to create the B-21 bomber, whose first flight took place in November, and the cost per piece is $ 700 million. In a statement, Northrop Grumman said the company continues to make progress in developing the system and intends to support the Air Force by “evaluating and updating acquisition cost forecasts for future phases of the program.”
By Doug Cameron
