StratCom chief backs investing in new nukes

[unhappycamper]

StratCom chief backs investing in new nukes
By Michael Hoffman - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 27, 2008 19:06:20 EST

The nation’s nuclear stockpile is safe and reliable now, but Strategic Command boss Gen. Kevin Chilton told Congress Wednesday that more research is needed to develop a nuclear warhead to replace those built for the Cold War.

Chilton made his case for Congress to invest in the Reliable Replacement Warhead Design Definition and Cost Study at the U.S. Strategic Posture Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Request for Strategic Programs hearing in order to provide more information into the viability of building a post-Cold War warhead.

The time when scientists tried to manufacture a warhead that could produce the highest yield-to-weight ratio has passed Chilton said, and has been replaced with a need for “reliability, safety, security and maintainability.”

Critics of the study say such research into technological advances for nuclear weapons could reignite a nuclear arms race and the potential for proliferation, but the general said it would have an opposite effect.

“We assert a modern stockpile designed to provide a reliable, safe and secure nuclear umbrella will serve to dissuade and deter our adversaries — and assure our allies — reducing their perceived need for an indigenous nuclear program,” he said in a prepared statement for the House Armed Services Committee’s Strategic Forces Subcommittee.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/02/airforce_stratcom_022708w/