GoneBezerk
Rookie
- May 14, 2011
- 7,603
- 493
- 0
- Banned
- #61
The Minuteman III ICBMs have been slowly getting new parts and upgrades the last 10-15 years but a modern ICBM will be required to maintain the safety and reliabilty of our ICBM force.
The B-52 is older than most people on this board and is nearing its end in 10-15 years, so the Air Force is looking at the next generation bomber to work with the B-2s that also carry nukes.
The SLBM force is outside my expertise, but I'm sure the Navy will need to upgrade their assets in the next 10-20 years to maintain the lethal edge.
The new Air Force bomber can just replace the B-1 and B-52 force doing both nuke and conventional strike missions. The new bomber can have lower numbers overall using stealth technology and standoff weapons, which will save money for the DoD.
But....the DoD needs to maintain its nuclear warheads inventory and also upgrade them too since it has been decades since we tested nukes. We need to make sure they go "boom" when required otherwise they invite an attack from Russia, China, Iran or North Korea.
The B-52 is older than most people on this board and is nearing its end in 10-15 years, so the Air Force is looking at the next generation bomber to work with the B-2s that also carry nukes.
The SLBM force is outside my expertise, but I'm sure the Navy will need to upgrade their assets in the next 10-20 years to maintain the lethal edge.
The new Air Force bomber can just replace the B-1 and B-52 force doing both nuke and conventional strike missions. The new bomber can have lower numbers overall using stealth technology and standoff weapons, which will save money for the DoD.
But....the DoD needs to maintain its nuclear warheads inventory and also upgrade them too since it has been decades since we tested nukes. We need to make sure they go "boom" when required otherwise they invite an attack from Russia, China, Iran or North Korea.