The admiral overseeing America’s nuclear forces has warned that “a deterrence and assurance gap” will result from President Biden’s decision to scrap the development of sea-launched atomic missiles.
Admiral Chas Richard, chief of US Strategic Command, told Congress that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and “China’s nuclear trajectory” meant that the Biden administration should reconsider its cost-saving decision to pull the plug on the new tactical weapon.
The sea-launched, cruise missile nuclear (SLCM-N) programme was to be deployed on submarines or destroyers. Biden withdrew funding for the programme in his 2023 draft military budget because of pressure from Democrats to keep spending down and to show progress on non-proliferation. As it is, spending on nuclear weapons is still expected to increase next year by $7.7 billion.
General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General Tod Wolters, chief of US European Command, have expressed support for the continuation of the programme.
The Trump administration first promoted the programme but said that it might reconsider if “Russia returns to compliance with its arms control obligations, reduces its non-strategic nuclear arsenal and corrects its other destabilising behaviours”.
Now that Putin has raised the prospect of using nuclear weapons during his war in Ukraine, Republicans are arguing that this extra tactical weapon would encourage deterrence. This also applied to fears about China’s intentions, especially over Taiwan.
Biden included $15.2 million in his 2022 budget for research and development of the programme but Democrats argued that the Obama administration had abandoned a similar weapon, the nuclear-armed Tomahawk land attack missile, in 2010.
“While I am satisfied [US Strategic Command] priorities are adequately addressed [in the 2023 budget proposal], the current situation in Ukraine and China’s nuclear trajectory convinces me a deterrence and assurance gap exists,” Richard wrote in a letter to Congress.
“To address this gap, a low-yield, non-ballistic capability to deter and respond without visible generation is necessary to provide a persistent, survivable, regional capability to deter adversaries, assure allies, provide flexible options, as well as complement existing capabilities. I believe a capability with these attributes should be re-examined in the near future.”
Biden’s proposed defence budget, of $813.4 billion, includes $50.9 billion in nuclear weapons spending.
At a House armed services committee hearing this month, Lloyd Austin, the defence secretary, defended the $34.4 billion earmarked for nuclear weapons modernisation as “very significant”. He acknowledged that Russia had submarines capable of firing nuclear ballistic missiles but played down the need for the SLCM-N. “The marginal capability that this provides is far outweighed by the cost,” he said.
Milley has told Congress that his support for the new cruise missile capability has not changed.
Adam Smith, a Democratic congressman from Washington state who chairs the House armed services committee, has said that adding nuclear weapons would complicate the mission of attack submarines. Milley responded that with about 50 attack submarines in the US fleet there was scope for some to get the SLCM-N and others to continue their conventional missions. “Some of those would have a mission change; others would not,” Milley said.
