January 20, 2021
GBSD: The Case for Modernization So Obvious Even Two Think Tankers Get It
This past Monday, Admiral Charles Richard, Commander of the United States Strategic Command, pushed back on the small but vocal disarmament advocacy clerisy who are trying to pressure the incoming Biden administration to eliminate the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) program. While on a Zoom call with the Defense Writers Group, Adm Richard remarked, “I don’t understand frankly how someone in a think tank who actually doesn’t have their hands on the missile, looking at the parts, the cables, all the pieces inside” is qualified to make such recommendations.
ICBMs remain consistent, visible and responsible mainstays of our nuclear deterrent.
The authors humbly disagree with the Admiral on this point. You don’t need to put your hands on the physically atrophying cables or subject yourself to the unsafe and decaying launch control facilities to fully appreciate the necessity for modernizing the most responsive leg of the nuclear triad. Even those of us in think tank world should be able to appreciate the pragmatism embodied in the GBSD program to protect the homeland and our allies in a cost-effective, threat-informed, and stabilizing manner.
Read the full article from Real Clear Defense.
More from CNAS
-
The U.S. Military Needs to Relearn Nuclear Signaling
Commentary
This deterioration matters because beyond the quantity and quality of the United States’ nuclear forces, nuclear deterrence will rest on the country’s ability to effectively s...
By Philip Sheers
-
Sharper: America’s Edge
Commentary
A volatile global security environment requires the United States and its allies to develop new tactics and capabilities to deal with novel global threats. On June 3, policyma...
By Charles Horn
-
Why China’s Amphibious ‘Invasion Platforms’ Are Troubling Sign for Taiwan
Video
Beijing’s new ships can land on beaches and link to form massive mobile piers. Analysts, including Tom Shugart from Center for a New American Security, say they’re intended to...
By Tom Shugart
-
"From Production Lines to Front Lines," with Becca Wasser and Philip Sheers of CNAS
Podcast
In this episode of Building the Base, Hondo Geurts and Lauren Bedula are joined by Becca Wasser and Philip Sheers from the Center for New American Security (CNAS) to discuss t...
By Becca Wasser & Philip Sheers
