DoD: “We’re Not Moving Away from Nuclear Deterrents” but “No Need” For Reliable Replacement Warhead
Deputy Asst. Secretary of Defense Bradley Roberts
In a live DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable on President Obama’s review of America’s nuclear posture, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear & Missile Defense Bradley Roberts said, “We’re not moving away from nuclear deterrents [sic] for the problems for which it remains relevant.”
He clarified, “The opening thought in the Nuclear Posture Review is that the security environment today is different from the environment of the last 20, 40, 60 years. And in this environment we have some clear nuclear dangers in front of us — dangers posed by defiant states seeking nuclear weapons in defiance of the international community,” adding,
“So long as nuclear threats remain from these [rogue] states, the nuclear umbrella will remain as part of this overall regional deterrence architecture.” – Deputy Asst. Secretary of Defense Bradley Roberts
Rear Admiral John Roberti
Rear Admiral John E. Roberti noted that there was one nuclear capability that would be retired by the U.S. Military, the TLAM-N (the nuclear-armed variant of Raytheon’s BGM-109 Tomahawk missile) which Adm. Roberti says will be retired over the course of the next two to three years. However, in accordance with SALT-I, the missile has not been active since 1974.
When asked why the United States didn’t simply say that the “sole purpose” of the U.S. nuclear stockpile is to deter nuclear attack against the U.S., instead of describing it as “The fundamental role of the U.S. nuclear weapons,” Roberts replied that the President was updating an outdated clause that pertained to the Cold War. “We promised states that foreswear nuclear weapons that they will not be threatened by our use of nuclear weapons. But we added a caveat during the Cold War, which is that that didn’t apply if you were a member of the Warsaw Pact. That’s hardly relevant in today’s world.”
To a question about the feasibility or need for the Reliable Replacement Warhead, a Bush Administration joint venture between the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) and the Department of Energy, Adm. Roberti responded “right now we do not foresee any reason to have a new warhead, or what we would call a ‘replacement warhead.’”
Mr. Roberts explained that Congress has mandated “the Stockpile Management Plan,” which he described as “a hybrid of the objectives of the RRW program and Life Extension.” He said that Congress has “asked the administration to to provide a pathway forward that sustains the current arsenal, extends the life of current warheads, and permits changes to those warheads — to the components within them, when that’s required for purposes of safety and security.”
He added that “both Russia and China are countries with which we seek to increase our strategic cooperation,” and noted that in the international community, “the general feedback we’ve gotten is that they see our work as constructive and positive.”
Talks with nuclear nations like Russia and China will take the forefront of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference next month. On the conference, Adm. Roberti said “the proof will be in the pudding, and it would be imprudent for me to conjecture on the dynamics…Of course, fundamentally it will depend on whether the participants in the review conference see enough change in the NPR or too much change in the NPR.” He added, “As you heard us say earlier, we were not prepared to endorse the statement of sole purpose in this review, and that will be disappointing to some.”
That semantic distinction in the U.S. Nuclear Posture Review, that U.S. nuclear weapons’ “fundamental purpose” is deterrence, as opposed to “sole purpose,” could have broad diplomatic repercussions. Also, while the DoD and DOE are not moving forward with the Reliable Replacement Warhead, government contractors should take note of the DoD catechism of “reuse, refurbish, replace,” because it’s the doctrine that will chart the course of nuclear stockpile maintenance contracts at least through the Obama administration.
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